Investing.com – Most Asian stocks traded lower Friday amid some slack earnings reports and profit-taking ahead of the G20 meeting.
In Asian trading Friday, Japan’s Nikkei 225 fell 1.72% as traders are expecting backlash directed at Japan for allowing the yen to depreciate so rapidly at the G20 meeting that starts later today in Moscow.
Hong Kong’s Hang Seng fell 0.07% while the Shanghai Composite remained closed for Chinese Lunar New Year festivities. Bourses in Taiwan and Vietnam also remained closed.
Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 Index rose 0.1%, but the gains were hampered by a tumble in shares of mining giant Rio Tinto. One of the world’s largest makers of iron ore, Rio Tinto fell more than 2% following its earnings release.
Australia & New Zealand Banking Group, Australia’s third-largest bank, did its home market no favors by reporting a 20% drop in fourth-quarter profits. Falling interest rates may not be keeping the Aussie dollar from rising against the greenback, but those lower rates did crimp ANZ’s profits in the fourth quarter.
New Zealand’s NZSE 50 tumbled 1% despite a strong retail sales report. In a report, Statistics New Zealand said retail sales there jumped 2.1% in the fourth quarter of 2012, easily topping economists’ expectations of growth of 1.4%. That is good for the best rate of growth in six years, indicating that despite the negative impact the Kiwi could have on New Zealand exporters, the economy there is performing well.
Elsewhere, South Korea’s Kospi added 0.04% after the Bank of Korea left interest rates unchanged for a fourth straight month. South Korea’s benchmark interest rate is 2.75%.
Singapore’s Straits Times Index fell 0.44% while S&P 500 futures slipped 0.17%.
In Asian trading Friday, Japan’s Nikkei 225 fell 1.72% as traders are expecting backlash directed at Japan for allowing the yen to depreciate so rapidly at the G20 meeting that starts later today in Moscow.
Hong Kong’s Hang Seng fell 0.07% while the Shanghai Composite remained closed for Chinese Lunar New Year festivities. Bourses in Taiwan and Vietnam also remained closed.
Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 Index rose 0.1%, but the gains were hampered by a tumble in shares of mining giant Rio Tinto. One of the world’s largest makers of iron ore, Rio Tinto fell more than 2% following its earnings release.
Australia & New Zealand Banking Group, Australia’s third-largest bank, did its home market no favors by reporting a 20% drop in fourth-quarter profits. Falling interest rates may not be keeping the Aussie dollar from rising against the greenback, but those lower rates did crimp ANZ’s profits in the fourth quarter.
New Zealand’s NZSE 50 tumbled 1% despite a strong retail sales report. In a report, Statistics New Zealand said retail sales there jumped 2.1% in the fourth quarter of 2012, easily topping economists’ expectations of growth of 1.4%. That is good for the best rate of growth in six years, indicating that despite the negative impact the Kiwi could have on New Zealand exporters, the economy there is performing well.
Elsewhere, South Korea’s Kospi added 0.04% after the Bank of Korea left interest rates unchanged for a fourth straight month. South Korea’s benchmark interest rate is 2.75%.
Singapore’s Straits Times Index fell 0.44% while S&P 500 futures slipped 0.17%.