Asian markets slip amid concerns over China stimulus pace

By Marketwatch and Associated Press

AFP/Getty Images

Japan's Shieriai Tsuda competes in the women's high jump Wednesday at the Asian Athletics Championships in Doha, Qatar.

Asian markets saw a mixed day on Wednesday, as fresh all-time closing highs for the S&P 500 and Nasdaq vied for investor attention with concerns China will slow its pace of economic stimulus.

Japan’s Nikkei /zigman2/quotes/210597971/delayed JP:NIK -0.43%  closed down 0.3%. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index /zigman2/quotes/210598030/delayed HK:HSI -0.68%   and the Shanghai Composite /zigman2/quotes/210598127/delayed CN:SHCOMP +0.26%   also gave up initial gains, closing down 0.5% and flat, respectively.

China stocks recuperated some earlier losses, “supported by a late rally in tech shares that seem to have offset investor concerns that the PBoC could scale back the scope of further policy easing,” said Dean Popplewell, vice president of market analysis at OANDA, in a note to clients.

South Korea’s Kospi /zigman2/quotes/210598069/delayed KR:180721 +1.33%  fell 0.9%, while benchmark indexes in Taiwan   and Singapore /zigman2/quotes/210597985/delayed SG:STI +1.18%   were flat to lower.

Bucking the weaker trend, Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 /zigman2/quotes/210598100/delayed AU:XJO +0.68%   closed up almost 1%, touching a nearly 10-year high in intraday trading after data showed the Australian Bureau of Statistics said consumer prices were flat for the first quarter of 2019, below the 0.2% market consensus.

The weaker-than-expected reading has traders pricing in the likelihood the central bank will cut interest rates later this year, with the prospect of easy-money policy encouraging some investors to buy stocks.

Among individual stocks, Rakuten /zigman2/quotes/201861450/delayed JP:4755 -2.18%   and Fast Retailing /zigman2/quotes/200663563/delayed JP:9983 +0.26%   gained in Tokyo trading, while Nissan /zigman2/quotes/208298710/delayed JP:7201 -2.14%   retreated. In Hong Kong, real estate companies such as China Resources Land /zigman2/quotes/202417326/delayed HK:1109 +0.46%   and Country Garden /zigman2/quotes/201681083/delayed HK:2007 -0.20%   rose, while oil producer CNOOC /zigman2/quotes/203421416/delayed HK:883 +1.64%   and telecom China Mobile /zigman2/quotes/200868736/delayed HK:941 -2.25%   declined. Samsung /zigman2/quotes/209800866/delayed KR:005930 +1.93%   fell in South Korea. National Australia Bank /zigman2/quotes/210431826/delayed AU:NAB +0.77%   and Westpac Banking /zigman2/quotes/203084975/delayed AU:WBC +0.78%   advanced in Australia.

On Wall Street on Tuesday, The S&P 500 /zigman2/quotes/210599714/realtime SPX +0.64%   and Nasdaq /zigman2/quotes/210598365/realtime COMP +0.52%   closed at record highs Tuesday as investors cheered the latest batch of solid corporate earnings. The Dow Jones Industrial Average /zigman2/quotes/210598065/realtime DJIA +1.39%   closed less than 1% from a record high. Stock futures rose modestly on Wednesday as a wave of big U.S. companies such as Boeing Co. /zigman2/quotes/208579720/composite BA +5.58%  and Caterpillar Inc. /zigman2/quotes/203434128/composite CAT +2.62%  post results.

Oil prices closed Tuesday at their highest level since October, but West Texas Intermediate crude for June delivery   and June Brent crude  , the global benchmark slipped in Wednesday futures trading ahead of U.S. supply data.

/zigman2/quotes/210597971/delayed

Add to watchlist JP:NIK

NIKKEI 225 Index

JP : Nikkei

22,418.15

-96.70 -0.43%

Volume: 0.00

Aug. 6, 2020 3:15p

/zigman2/quotes/210598030/delayed

Add to watchlist HK:HSI

Hang Seng Index

HK : Hong Kong Exchange

24,931.23

-171.31 -0.68%

Volume: 1.44M

Aug. 6, 2020 3:54p

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Add to watchlist CN:SHCOMP

Shanghai Composite Index

CN : China: Shanghai

3,386.46

+8.90 +0.26%

Volume: 41.53B

Aug. 6, 2020 3:01p

/zigman2/quotes/210598069/delayed

Add to watchlist KR:SEU

KOSPI Composite Index

KR : Korea Exchange

2,342.61

+30.75 +1.33%

Volume: 785,176

Aug. 6, 2020 3:32p

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FTSE Straits Times Index

SG : Singapore: SGX

2,562.52

+29.83 +1.18%

Volume: 0.00

Aug. 6, 2020 3:54p

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S&P/ASX 200 Benchmark Index

AU : S&P ASX

6,042.20

+40.90 +0.68%

Volume: 696,467

Aug. 6, 2020 5:11p

/zigman2/quotes/201861450/delayed

Add to watchlist JP:4755

Rakuten Inc.

JP : Japan: Tokyo

¥ 1,034.00

-23.00 -2.18%

Volume: 6.04M

Aug. 6, 2020 3:00p

P/E Ratio

N/A

Dividend Yield

0.44%

Market Cap

¥1448.48 billion

Rev. per Employee

¥74.20M

/zigman2/quotes/200663563/delayed

Add to watchlist JP:9983

Fast Retailing Co. Ltd.

JP : Japan: Tokyo

¥ 58,810.00

+150.00 +0.26%

Volume: 364,900

Aug. 6, 2020 3:00p

P/E Ratio

63.61

Dividend Yield

0.82%

Market Cap

¥6019.44 billion

Rev. per Employee

¥40.83M

/zigman2/quotes/208298710/delayed

Add to watchlist JP:7201

Nissan Motor Co. Ltd.

JP : Japan: Tokyo

¥ 379.90

-8.30 -2.14%

Volume: 17.09M

Aug. 6, 2020 3:00p

P/E Ratio

N/A

Dividend Yield

0.00%

Market Cap

¥1546.45 billion

Rev. per Employee

¥85.36M

/zigman2/quotes/202417326/delayed

Add to watchlist HK:1109

China Resources Land Ltd.

HK : Hong Kong

HK$ 33.05

+0.15 +0.46%

Volume: 5.94M

Aug. 6, 2020 3:54p

P/E Ratio

7.09

Dividend Yield

3.54%

Market Cap

HK$234.96 billion

Rev. per Employee

HK$3.68M

/zigman2/quotes/201681083/delayed

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Country Garden Holdings Co. Ltd.

HK : Hong Kong

HK$ 10.00

-0.02 -0.20%

Volume: 10.93M

Aug. 6, 2020 3:53p

P/E Ratio

4.94

Dividend Yield

6.26%

Market Cap

HK$217.10 billion

Rev. per Employee

HK$3.60M

/zigman2/quotes/203421416/delayed

Add to watchlist HK:0883

CNOOC Ltd.

HK : Hong Kong

HK$ 8.66

+0.14 +1.64%

Volume: 84.71M

Aug. 6, 2020 3:54p

P/E Ratio

5.58

Dividend Yield

9.01%

Market Cap

HK$374.59 billion

Rev. per Employee

HK$13.96M

/zigman2/quotes/200868736/delayed

Add to watchlist HK:0941

China Mobile Ltd.

HK : Hong Kong

HK$ 54.25

-1.25 -2.25%

Volume: 19.53M

Aug. 6, 2020 3:54p

P/E Ratio

9.22

Dividend Yield

5.99%

Market Cap

HK$1109.77 billion

Rev. per Employee

HK$1.88M

/zigman2/quotes/209800866/delayed

Add to watchlist KR:005930

Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd.

KR : S. Korea: KRX

₩ 58,000.00

+1,100 +1.93%

Volume: 21.33M

Aug. 6, 2020 3:30p

P/E Ratio

18.51

Dividend Yield

2.44%

Market Cap

₩383212.92 billion

Rev. per Employee

N/A

/zigman2/quotes/210431826/delayed

Add to watchlist AU:NAB

National Australia Bank Ltd.

AU : Australia: Sydney

$ 17.04

+0.13 +0.77%

Volume: 6.93M

Aug. 6, 2020 4:10p

P/E Ratio

14.89

Dividend Yield

6.63%

Market Cap

$56.29 billion

Rev. per Employee

$1.00M

/zigman2/quotes/203084975/delayed

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Westpac Banking Corp.

AU : Australia: Sydney

$ 16.76

+0.13 +0.78%

Volume: 5.35M

Aug. 6, 2020 4:10p

P/E Ratio

12.59

Dividend Yield

10.38%

Market Cap

$60.54 billion

Rev. per Employee

$1.09M

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Add to watchlist SPX

S&P 500 Index

US : S&P US

3,327.77

+21.26 +0.64%

Volume: 2.45B

Aug. 5, 2020 5:27p

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Add to watchlist COMP

NASDAQ Composite Index

US : U.S.: Nasdaq

10,998.40

+57.23 +0.52%

Volume: 3.79M

Aug. 5, 2020 5:16p

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Add to watchlist DJIA

Dow Jones Industrial Average

US : Dow Jones Global

27,201.52

+373.05 +1.39%

Volume: 369.98M

Aug. 5, 2020 5:27p

/zigman2/quotes/208579720/composite

Add to watchlist BA

Boeing Co.

US : U.S.: NYSE

$ 174.28

+9.21 +5.58%

Volume: 46.55M

Aug. 5, 2020 4:00p

P/E Ratio

N/A

Dividend Yield

0.00%

Market Cap

$93.17 billion

Rev. per Employee

$660,961

/zigman2/quotes/203434128/composite

Add to watchlist CAT

Caterpillar Inc.

US : U.S.: NYSE

$ 134.97

+3.45 +2.62%

Volume: 2.81M

Aug. 5, 2020 4:00p

P/E Ratio

18.09

Dividend Yield

3.05%

Market Cap

$71.18 billion

Rev. per Employee

$526,173