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STOCKS-MARKETS-JAPAN-AUSTRALIA
Tokyo stocks up on cheap yen, Australian banks surge
TOKYO, Feb 5, 2019 (BSS/AFP) – Tokyo stocks were flat Tuesday as investors
keep a close eye on corporate earnings reports, while Australian financials
were lifted after an inquiry into the sector was considered more lenient than
feared.
With most Asian markets closed for Lunar New Year business was thin, though
Japanese, Australian and New Zealand traders were given a positive lead from
Wall Street, supported by hopes for China-US trade talks and a slower pace of
rate hikes by the Federal Reserve.
By lunch the benchmark Nikkei 225 index in Tokyo inched down 8.39 points,
to 20,875.38, though the broader Topix index rose 0.25 percent, or 3.91
points, to 1,585.24.
The Nikkei dipped despite the dollar rising to 110.00 yen in early trade,
from 109.92 yen in New York and 109.74 yen in Tokyo on Monday.
Traders may get more cautious in the coming hours ahead of US President
Donald Trump’s State of the Union address due on Tuesday, analysts said.
In Tokyo share trading Toyota rose 0.75 percent to 6,777 yen ahead of its
earnings report later this week, while small car specialist Suzuki was up
0.40 percent at 5,737 yen ahead of its earnings later Tuesday.
Mobile phone carrier SoftBank Corp was flat at 1,353 yen ahead of its
earnings report due later Tuesday.
Panasonic dropped 3.48 percent to 1,024 yen after a brokerage house revised
down its view of the shares’ value and after the electronics firm said its
nine months to December net profit declined 13 percent year-on-year.
Wellington was up 0.7 percent and Sydney jumped more than two percent, with
Australian banks leading the way after a year-long Royal Commission inquiry
into financial services scandals referred more than 20 cases to regulators
and called for substantial changes in the sector.
However, it did not call for criminal prosecution, disappointing some
observers who had demanded heads of individual senior executives who allowed
or perpetuated the repeated misconduct and breaches.
Analysts said much of the report’s findings had been expected.
Among the “Big Four” in the country’s banking sectors Westpac surged more
than seven percent, Commonwealth Bank and National Australia Bank each rose
around five percent, while ANZ jumped more than six percent.
“The soft recommendations of the Royal Commission final report is a clear
win for the banks,” UBS Group AG analysts wrote in a note.
“We do not believe that any of the 76 recommendations by themselves will
have a material financial impact on the banks.”
BSS/AFP/MR/ 1120 hrs