HomeMarket NewsAsian stocks lower on oil, earnings concerns

Asian stocks lower on oil, earnings concerns

Asian indices were broadly lower early Thursday, with the exception of New Zealand and the Philippines, following a sell-off on Wall Street overnight as US crude tumbled to near six-year lows.

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By CNBCTV18January 29, 2015, 9:19:22 AM IST IST (Updated)

Asian stocks lower on oil, earnings concerns

Asian indices were broadly lower early Thursday, with the exception of New Zealand and the Philippines, following a sell-off on Wall Street overnight as US crude tumbled to near six-year lows.



Meanwhile, the Federal Open Market Committee stuck to its vow to be "patient" on hiking interest rates and raised its view of the economy and labor market, even as the central bank anticipates a further decline in inflation.


Overnight, US stocks declined as the energy sector expanded losses after US crude settled down USD 1.78 at USD 44.45, its lowest since March 2009. Brent crude oil for March delivery was down USD 1.22 at USD 48.38 a barrel.


The Dow Jones Industrial Average ended down 1.1 percent while the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite shed 0.9 percent. The S&P 500 fell 1.4 percent, a day after it took its biggest hit in more than three weeks.


Mainland indices down


China's benchmark Shanghai Composite index opened down 0.8 percent to a one-week low, with financials among the hardest-hit, following reports from state media Xinhua that the mainland's stock regulator will inspect the stock margin trading business of 46 companies.


Brokerages were lower, with Haitong Securities losing 2.1 percent. Citic Securities and Founder Securities also slumped 1.9 percent, respectively.


Apart from insurers like China Pacific Insurance and China Life Insurance which retreated more than 2 percent each, China Minsheng Bank and China CITIC Bank fell 2.5 and 2 percent each.


In Hong Kong, the Hang Seng index opened down 0.7 percent.


Nikkei drops 0.4%


Japan's benchmark Nikkei 225 slipped in early trade, as dollar-yen retreated below the 118 handle and as traders digest December's retail sales data, which rose a lesser-than-expected 0.2 percent from a year earlier.


Nintendo slumped nearly 8 percent, after the video games maker issued a profit warning on Wednesday. Canon also made losses of 4.7 percent despite reporting a slight rise in fourth-quarter profit thanks to a weaker yen and solid office equipment sales.


Broker giant Nomura, NTT DoCoMo, Toshiba and Advantest made losses between 0.4 to 1.2 percent ahead of their corporate earnings reports.


Meanwhile, Skymark Airlines is in focus after it filed for bankruptcy protection late on Wednesday, putting the blame on Airbus and fierce competition at home. Shares of the budget carrier was de-listed following the bankruptcy filing.


Kospi falls 0.3%


South Korean shares fell modestly amid a pullback among index heavyweights. Samsung Electronics, the heaviest weighted stock on the Kospi index, was flat amid choppy trade after announcing a 36 percent on-year fall in fourth quarter profit, confirming its first annual earnings decline in three years.


Steelmaker Posco eased 0.4 percent while Kepco and KB Financial Group rebounded 0.1 and 1.2 percent each. LG electronics, due to hand in fourth quarter earnings later in the day, sagged 1.1 percent.


ASX flat


Australia's key S&P ASX 200 index erased early losses to edge up into positive territory, as a rebound in the banking sector offset losses in the energy sector.


As Westpac traded 0.3 percent lower, trimming a decline of 0.8 percent. National Australia Bank, Commonwealth Bank of Australia and ANZ Banking recouped earlier losses to rebound 0.6 percent, respectively.


Oil and gas producer Santos plunged 3.8 percent, while Liquefied Natural Gas and Oil Search fell 3.3 and 2.7 percent each.


New Zealand's NZX 50 index pared earlier gains but remained at record highs, while the kiwi dollar recovered to trade at USD 0.7344. The currency fell to a three-and-a-half-year low earlier after the Reserve Bank of New Zealand held its benchmark rate steady, but turned dovish as it said its next move could be either up or down after an extended period on hold.


PSE Composite jumps 0.8%


Philippines' benchmark index surged in Thursday's morning session following data that showed an upside surprise in the country's fourth quarter gross domestic product (GDP). The Philippine economy grew an annual 6.9 percent in the October-December period, faster than market expectations of 6.0 percent, bringing full-year growth to 6.1 percent.

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