The Wall Street Journal reported: Asian markets were largely down in early trade Thursday, with traders focused on oil, earnings and Chinese economic data. Japan’s Nikkei was down 0.3% and Australia’s S&P/ASX was off 0.5%, but South Korea’s Kospi gained 0.3%. The market is increasingly skeptical that the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries will be able to pull off a prospective deal to cut production.
China continues to weaken the yuan fixing it 0.05% weaker against the U.S. dollar. However, unlike during previous yuan depreciation pushes, traders appeared to be taking this weakening cycle in stride. It was another move by the Chinese central bank. The Shanghai Composite was down just 0.4% on the data but Hong Kong stocks were hit harder.The Hang Seng Index was off 1.2% and the China Enterprises Index, which tracks large mainland companies listed in Hong Kong, was down 1.5%.
China recorded 7.7% year-over-year growth in industrial profits in September, sharply down from the 19.5% growth the previous month, according to the National Bureau of Statistics. Analysts said that Beijing’s new property controls had hit construction, and therefore the profits of coal and steel producers, but that this should prove temporary, according to the Journal.
Meanwhile, in the currency markets the dollar moved slightly higher after two down sessions to trade at 98.71. Some observers, however, pointed out wile the dollar remains strong against the yen it seems to be losing some stream against the euro, British pound, Swiss Franc and commodity currencies. The yen traded at 104.38 against the dollar. Gold prices, still getting demand from the India festival, edged lower on the dollar strength against the yen, trading at $1,265.51 an ounce.
On tap for later in the week, Friday, investors will be studying the U.S. gross domestic product third-quarter results.
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