Japan’s stock market headed higher on September 17 despite trade data for August coming in below market expectations.
Japanese exports rose 3.1% from a year ago, falling short of the 4% predicted, while imports fell a more-than-expected 3.1% in the same period.
Investors also ignored a credit rating downgrade for Japan by S&P rating agency, because of a weakening outlook for the economy.
Japan’s benchmark Nikkei 225 index closed up 1.4% to 18,432.27.
Photo Getty Images
The index has risen for a third consecutive day.
Australian shares headed higher, following the global lead, after US shares were positive ahead of the Federal Reserve’s decision on whether to raise interest rates for the first time in almost a decade.
In Sydney, the S&P/ASX 200 index closed up 0.9% to 5,146.80 points.
Chinese shares headed higher, following on from yesterday’s trend, when mainland shares rallied to close up nearly 5%.
The Shanghai Composite was up 1.6% to 3,202.42, while Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index was higher by 0.6% at 22,089.24 in afternoon trade.
South Korea’s benchmark Kospi index finished trading flat at 1,976.49 as investors awaited the Fed’s decision.
Toshiba has posted a net loss of 37.8 billion yen ($318 million) for the year to March.
The delayed result follows the sale of its stake in Finnish company Kone, in a bid to bolster its bottom line amid a recent accounting scandal.
The sale of the 4.6% stake in the lift manufacturer was worth $946.2 million.
Toshiba’s president and vice-president resigned in July after an independent panel found the company had overstated profits for the past six years.
The panel said operating profits had been overstated by $1.22 billion, roughly triple an initial estimate by Toshiba.
Toshiba has apologized to investors and has made attempts to avoid further accounting irregularities.
The company said in a statement that “while the US economy had lost some momentum… the UK had witnessed a strong performance and the eurozone had sustained a gradual recovery”.
Toshiba also said that despite China’s slowdown, solid growth had been seen in South East Asia and India.
During a news conference after the earnings were released, Toshiba also announced that it had decided there was no need to write down the value of its US nuclear operation, Westinghouse.
The accounting scandal had raised concerns that it was overestimating the value of the business.
Toshiba chief executive Masashi Muromachi also said that he was considering a “bold restructuring” of its semiconductor business by the end of the year.
The full-year results posted on September 7 had been delayed twice.
Toshiba shares rose on the earnings by as much as 3.5%, closing higher by 1.8% in Tokyo.
On December 2, Japan’s Nikkei 225 index closed at a fresh seven-year high as investor sentiment was buoyed by talk of the Bank of Japan (BoJ) buying stocks.
The benchmark Nikkei 225 closed up 0.4% at 17,663.22 points.
Earlier, the index had fallen after Moody’s Investment Service cut Japan’s credit rating by one notch to A1 from Aa3.
Moody’s move underlined concerns over Japan’s economy after an increase in the national sales tax was delayed.
However, analysts said the weaker yen, together with the possible move by the BoJ, was continuing to support investor sentiment.
China shares rallied on speculation that the country’s central bank was preparing to reduce bank reserve requirement ratios sooner than expected on recent economic data showing a much weaker economy.
In Hong Kong, the Hang Seng index closed up 1.2% at 23,654.30, while the Shanghai Composite rose 3.1%, to 2,763.54 – its best daily rise since September 2013.
Australia’s benchmark S&P/ASX 200 index closed up 1.4% at 5,281.30 points.
The upward movement in Australia followed the biggest fall since October 10 on December 1 amid a sell-off in mining and energy related shares.
Ahead of economic growth figures due out on December 3, the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) reported on December 2 that net exports had added 0.8 percentage points to gross domestic product (GDP) in Q3.
The quarterly rise in exports for the three months to September is a sign that GDP data due out on December 3 will be positive.
As expected, Australia’s central bank maintained its record low official interest rates at its monthly meeting on December 2.
The bank’s interest rate has been at 2.5% since August last year.
In South Korea, the benchmark Kospi was little-changed, closing up just 0.03% at 1,965.83 points.
[googlead tip=”vertical_mic”]Asian financial markets continued their decline on Tuesday, after a Monday black day performed by American and European stock markets.
Asian financial markets continued their decline on Tuesday, after a Monday black day performed by American and European stock markets, despite the mobilization of leaders and governors of central banks were trying to calm the markets concerns regarding the specter of a new crisis, according to AFP.
Hong Kong SE fell by 7.24%
Tokyo Stock Exchange registered a fall of over 4% in mid-session, the stock exchange in Hong Kong fell by 7.24% after session opening, the Sydney Stock Exchange registered a 5% lost and Seoul a 4.2% lost.
Hong Kong SE fell by 7.24% shortly after session opening
[googlead tip=”vertical_mediu” aliniat=”dreapta”] “Asians are acting emotionally instead of looking rationally at the situation. It is a general panic, ” said Chris Weston from IG Markets, based in Melbourne.
Oil quotations continued to drop.
Oil quotations continued to drop during electronic trades conducted on Asian markets, a barrel of oil “light sweet crude” with delivery in September fell below $80 while Brent crude oil barrel tested the threshold of 100 dollars.
Gold price reached a new high record in Hong Kong.
Gold continues to enjoy its status of value of refuge. Tuesday, an ounce of gold reached a new high record on Hong Kong Stock Exchange, 1,726.30-1,727.30 dollars after Monday 1720 dollars threshold.
Financial markets still suffer from the shockwaves of the last Friday historic decision when Standard and Poor’s has downgraded the U.S. “AAA” rating to “AA+”.
The S & P’s decision came along with a huge list of disappointing U.S. economic indicators and the fears about sovereign debt crisis evolution in Europe.
[googlead tip=”lista_mare” aliniat=”stanga”]Yesterday, the New York Stock Exchange recorded the worst session since December 2008. The Dow Jones fell 5.55% to end below 11,000 for the first time in the last 10 months. Panic has spread to the other side of the Atlantic. Frankfurt Stock Exchange fell by 5.02%, Paris dropped by 4.68% and London ended down 3.39%.
Pressed to come up with a concerted response to the euro area crisis and to the signs of slowing U.S. economy, the world’s richest countries leaders were not spared. Monday morning, shortly before the opening of European markets sessions, the G20 said they were ready to act in a coordinated manner to stabilize financial markets and protect economic growth. A little later, leaders and central bank governors from G7 said they would cooperate to counter excessive exchange rate movements. In its turn, the European Central Bank announced Sunday that it will purchase public bonds from secondary market.
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