Nikkei snaps winning streak as tensions drag on Asian stocks

By Chao Deng

Most Asian markets slipped Wednesday amid escalating geopolitical tensions, after Turkish military shot down a Russian jet fighter, though a rise in oil prices overnight lifted some energy shares in the region.

The Nikkei Stock Average /zigman2/quotes/210597971/delayed JP:NIK -0.05%  closed down for the first time in four days, off 0.4%, at 19,847.58, in light trading. The benchmark has risen almost 20% in less than two months.

Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 /zigman2/quotes/210598100/delayed AU:XJO +0.34%  was down 0.6% at 5,193.7. Its energy sector rose 0.9%.

South Korea’s Kospi /zigman2/quotes/210598069/delayed KR:180721 +0.09%  lost 0.3%, and Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index /zigman2/quotes/210598030/delayed HK:HSI +2.51%  fell 0.4%.

The Shanghai Composite Index /zigman2/quotes/210598127/delayed CN:SHCOMP +0.10%  rose 0.9%.

Crude oil futures /zigman2/quotes/209723602/delayed CLF26 +0.11%  steadied Wednesday in Asia amid renewed concerns about a global surplus, after climbing nearly 3% overnight. Metals that sank to multiyear lows earlier in the week also surged overnight, but have pared gains in Asian trading.

On Tuesday, Turkey shot down a Russian jet fighter along the Syrian border, an incident that threatens to undercut growing efforts to create a new international coalition to confront expanding Islamic State terrorism. The Middle East is the world’s most prolific oil-producing region, though Syria itself produces very little oil.

“While the dispute between Turkey and Russia is unlikely to escalate into a hot conflict, it does underline the unresolved tensions over how to put an end to the unrest in Syria and Iraq,” said Angus Nicholson, market analyst with brokerage IG. “This uncertainty around a further escalation of the conflict in the Middle East has hung heavily over Asian markets.”

Energy shares

Australian energy shares gained on the oil-price moves overnight. Santos Ltd. /zigman2/quotes/207349564/delayed AU:STO -0.63%    and Origin Energy Ltd. /zigman2/quotes/207944120/delayed AU:ORG -0.57%  gained 3.5% and 3.1%, respectively, while AWE Ltd. rose 3.4% and Liquefied Natural Gas Ltd.  advanced 7.4%.

In Hong Kong oil producers, Cnooc Ltd. /zigman2/quotes/203421416/delayed HK:883 -0.14%   rose 3.4% and PetroChina Co. /zigman2/quotes/204979431/delayed HK:857 0.00%   /zigman2/quotes/206980083/delayed CN:601857 -0.25%  rose 0.4%. In Japan, oil and gas developer Inpex Corp. /zigman2/quotes/206689846/delayed JP:1605 -2.88%  rose 1.2%, and oil refiner Idemitsu Kosan Co. /zigman2/quotes/209216965/delayed JP:5019 -2.99%  rose 2.0%.

Rising oil overnight also pressured Asian airline stocks Wednesday, with shares of Cathay Pacific Airways Ltd. /zigman2/quotes/203532437/delayed HK:293 +1.64%   /zigman2/quotes/208114856/delayed CPCAY +4.10%  down 1.9%, Qantas Airways Ltd. /zigman2/quotes/205534063/delayed AU:QAN 0.00%  down 1.6% and Japan Airlines Co. /zigman2/quotes/202202214/delayed JP:9201 -0.84%  0.9% lower.

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Asian government bonds gained, as investors sought havens assets, after a rally in U.S. Treasury yields overnight.

Australia’s benchmark 10-year government bond yield /zigman2/quotes/211347066/realtime BX:TMBMKAU-10Y +0.73%  fell to 2.88% Wednesday from 2.94% a day earlier. Ten-year yields on Thailand’s government bonds /zigman2/quotes/211347034/realtime BX:AMBMKTH-10Y +1.09%  dropped to 2.76% from 2.82% Tuesday. Yields fall as prices rise.

The Japanese yen /zigman2/quotes/210561789/realtime/sampled USDJPY +0.0442%  , another asset sought during geopolitical uncertainty, gained 0.2% against the U.S. dollar Wednesday, at ¥122.23 a dollar. The currency reached its strongest level in more than a week in earlier trading, at ¥122.23 per U.S. dollar.

/zigman2/quotes/210597971/delayed

Add to watchlist JP:NIK

NIKKEI 225 Index

JP : Nikkei

31,857.62

-14.90 -0.05%

Volume: 0.00

Sept. 29, 2023 3:15p

/zigman2/quotes/210598100/delayed

Add to watchlist AU:XJO

S&P/ASX 200 Benchmark Index

AU : S&P ASX

7,048.60

+23.80 +0.34%

Volume: 776,826

Sept. 29, 2023 5:01p

/zigman2/quotes/210598069/delayed

Add to watchlist KR:SEU

KOSPI Composite Index

KR : Korea Exchange

2,465.07

+2.10 +0.09%

Volume: 366,241

Sept. 27, 2023 6:05p

/zigman2/quotes/210598030/delayed

Add to watchlist HK:HSI

Hang Seng Index

HK : Hong Kong Exchange

17,809.66

+436.63 +2.51%

Volume: 1.84M

Sept. 29, 2023 4:08p

/zigman2/quotes/210598127/delayed

Add to watchlist CN:SHCOMP

Shanghai Composite Index

CN : China: Shanghai

3,110.48

+3.16 +0.10%

Volume: 23.63B

Sept. 28, 2023 3:00p

/zigman2/quotes/209723602/delayed

Add to watchlist CLF6

Crude Oil Jan 2026

US : U.S.: Nymex

$ 73.43

+0.08 +0.11%

Volume: 0.00

Sept. 29, 2023 1:53p

/zigman2/quotes/207349564/delayed

Add to watchlist AU:STO

Santos Ltd.

AU : Australia: Sydney

$ 7.90

-0.05 -0.63%

Volume: 7.32M

Sept. 29, 2023 4:10p

P/E Ratio

10.14

Dividend Yield

4.67%

Market Cap

$25.76 billion

Rev. per Employee

$2.98M

/zigman2/quotes/207944120/delayed

Add to watchlist AU:ORG

Origin Energy Ltd.

AU : Australia: Sydney

$ 8.78

-0.05 -0.57%

Volume: 3.49M

Sept. 29, 2023 4:10p

P/E Ratio

14.41

Dividend Yield

4.16%

Market Cap

$15.16 billion

Rev. per Employee

$2.98M

/zigman2/quotes/203421416/delayed

Add to watchlist HK:0883

CNOOC Ltd.

HK : Hong Kong

$ 13.78

-0.02 -0.14%

Volume: 26.37M

Sept. 29, 2023 4:08p

P/E Ratio

4.30

Dividend Yield

9.72%

Market Cap

$684.56 billion

Rev. per Employee

$23.81M

/zigman2/quotes/204979431/delayed

Add to watchlist HK:0857

PetroChina Co. Ltd.

HK : Hong Kong

$ 5.90

0.00 0.00%

Volume: 64.23M

Sept. 29, 2023 4:08p

P/E Ratio

6.75

Dividend Yield

8.00%

Market Cap

$1509.01 billion

Rev. per Employee

$8.78M

/zigman2/quotes/206980083/delayed

Add to watchlist CN:601857

PetroChina Co. Ltd. A

CN : China: Shanghai

¥ 7.98

-0.02 -0.25%

Volume: 125.02M

Sept. 28, 2023 3:00p

P/E Ratio

9.59

Dividend Yield

5.39%

Market Cap

¥1410.13 billion

Rev. per Employee

¥7.43M

/zigman2/quotes/206689846/delayed

Add to watchlist JP:1605

Inpex Corp.

JP : Japan: Tokyo

¥ 2,256.00

-67.00 -2.88%

Volume: 10.41M

Sept. 29, 2023 3:00p

P/E Ratio

5.90

Dividend Yield

3.28%

Market Cap

¥3098.71 billion

Rev. per Employee

¥685.19M

/zigman2/quotes/209216965/delayed

Add to watchlist JP:5019

Idemitsu Kosan Co. Ltd.

JP : Japan: Tokyo

¥ 3,438.00

-106.00 -2.99%

Volume: 1.54M

Sept. 29, 2023 3:00p

P/E Ratio

8.46

Dividend Yield

3.49%

Market Cap

¥1053.67 billion

Rev. per Employee

¥631.52M

/zigman2/quotes/203532437/delayed

Add to watchlist HK:0293

Cathay Pacific Airways Ltd.

HK : Hong Kong

$ 8.04

+0.13 +1.64%

Volume: 2.59M

Sept. 29, 2023 4:08p

P/E Ratio

30.66

Dividend Yield

0.00%

Market Cap

$50.92 billion

Rev. per Employee

$4.62M

/zigman2/quotes/208114856/delayed

Add to watchlist CPCAY

Cathay Pacific Airways Ltd. ADR

US : U.S.: OTC

$ 5.08

+0.20 +4.10%

Volume: 371.00

Sept. 29, 2023 1:07p

P/E Ratio

30.38

Dividend Yield

0.00%

Market Cap

$6.51 billion

Rev. per Employee

$589,678

/zigman2/quotes/205534063/delayed

Add to watchlist AU:QAN

Qantas Airways Ltd.

AU : Australia: Sydney

$ 5.18

0.00 0.00%

Volume: 10.93M

Sept. 29, 2023 4:10p

P/E Ratio

5.57

Dividend Yield

0.00%

Market Cap

$8.92 billion

Rev. per Employee

$736,641

/zigman2/quotes/202202214/delayed

Add to watchlist JP:9201

Japan Airlines Co. Ltd.

JP : Japan: Tokyo

¥ 2,908.00

-24.50 -0.84%

Volume: 3.46M

Sept. 29, 2023 3:00p

P/E Ratio

16.48

Dividend Yield

1.38%

Market Cap

¥1319.32 billion

Rev. per Employee

¥41.29M

/zigman2/quotes/211347066/realtime

Add to watchlist BX:TMBMKAU-10Y

Australia 10 Year Government Bond

BX : Tullett Prebon

4.50

+0.03 +0.73%

Volume: 0.00

Sept. 29, 2023 4:30p

/zigman2/quotes/211347034/realtime

Add to watchlist BX:AMBMKTH-10Y

Thailand 10 Year Government Bond

BX : Tullett Prebon

3.25

+0.04 +1.09%

Volume: 0.00

Sept. 29, 2023 6:45a

/zigman2/quotes/210561789/realtime/sampled

Add to watchlist USDJPY

Japanese Yen

US : Tullett Prebon

149.3690

+0.0660 +0.0442%

Volume: 0.0000

Sept. 29, 2023 4:59p