Investing.com – Asian stocks were mixed on Wednesday, as Japanese exporters were boosted by a weaker yen, while shares in the commodity sector slumped amid speculation over a Chinese interest rate hike.
During late Asian trade, Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index tumbled 1.61%, South Korea's Kospi Composite fell 0.35%, while Japan’s Nikkei 225 Index jumped 0.90%.
The Nikkei’s gains came as shares in many of the big name Japanese exporters advanced as the yen weakened against the U.S. dollar.
Electronics giant Sony saw shares jump 1.88%, rivals Panasonic saw shares climb 1.19%, while shares in Japan’s second-largest automaker Honda, which gets approximately 80% of its revenue abroad, surged 1.95%.
Meanwhile, shares in the nation’s largest train operator East Japan Railway rallied 2.76% after the stock was upgraded to ‘buy’ by Goldman Sachs. Rivals Central Japan Railway gained 1.22%.
In earnings news, shares in silicon wafer maker Sumco Corporation tumbled 9.63% after the company said that it expected a JPY 66 billion net loss for the current fiscal year, due to a decline in wafer shipment volumes and prices.
Elsewhere, in Hong Kong, shares in the commodity sector led declines as crude oil and metal prices retreated amid speculation that China planned to hike its benchmark interest rate as soon as this weekend in an effort to curb inflation.
Shares in China’s largest offshore oil producer Cnooc tumbled 3.12%, oil and gas giant PetroChina saw shares plunge 2.77%, while shares in the nation’s largest copper producer Jiangxi Copper slumped 2.77%.
The outlook for European equity markets, meanwhile, was downbeat. The EURO STOXX 50 futures pointed to a decline of 0.50%, France’s CAC 40 futures indicated a drop of 0.37%, the FTSE 100 futures pointed to a loss of 0.43%, while Germany's DAX futures were down 0.20%.
On Tuesday, the Irish austerity budget passed the first in a series of votes to tackle what Finance Minister Brian Lenihan called the “worst crisis in our history.”
During late Asian trade, Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index tumbled 1.61%, South Korea's Kospi Composite fell 0.35%, while Japan’s Nikkei 225 Index jumped 0.90%.
The Nikkei’s gains came as shares in many of the big name Japanese exporters advanced as the yen weakened against the U.S. dollar.
Electronics giant Sony saw shares jump 1.88%, rivals Panasonic saw shares climb 1.19%, while shares in Japan’s second-largest automaker Honda, which gets approximately 80% of its revenue abroad, surged 1.95%.
Meanwhile, shares in the nation’s largest train operator East Japan Railway rallied 2.76% after the stock was upgraded to ‘buy’ by Goldman Sachs. Rivals Central Japan Railway gained 1.22%.
In earnings news, shares in silicon wafer maker Sumco Corporation tumbled 9.63% after the company said that it expected a JPY 66 billion net loss for the current fiscal year, due to a decline in wafer shipment volumes and prices.
Elsewhere, in Hong Kong, shares in the commodity sector led declines as crude oil and metal prices retreated amid speculation that China planned to hike its benchmark interest rate as soon as this weekend in an effort to curb inflation.
Shares in China’s largest offshore oil producer Cnooc tumbled 3.12%, oil and gas giant PetroChina saw shares plunge 2.77%, while shares in the nation’s largest copper producer Jiangxi Copper slumped 2.77%.
The outlook for European equity markets, meanwhile, was downbeat. The EURO STOXX 50 futures pointed to a decline of 0.50%, France’s CAC 40 futures indicated a drop of 0.37%, the FTSE 100 futures pointed to a loss of 0.43%, while Germany's DAX futures were down 0.20%.
On Tuesday, the Irish austerity budget passed the first in a series of votes to tackle what Finance Minister Brian Lenihan called the “worst crisis in our history.”