Asian stocks mixed on possible December rate hike 

Asian stocks put up a mixed performance on Thursday, after Federal Reserve chair Janet Yellen said that December’s monetary policy meeting would be a “live possibility” for a rate hike if upcoming economic data were supportive.

Yellen was testifying before the House Financial Services Committee in Washington on Wednesday.

“The likelihood of a rate hike in December was given further credence with Janet Yellen’s remarks overnight. Yellen was keen to emphasize that if the economy continues at the current rate as the Fed expects then “December would be a live possibility”. Her comments led to a strong move in the front-end of the yield curve as the two-year yield jumped five basis points to its highest level this year at 0.816 percent,” IG’s market analyst Angus Nicholson wrote in a note.

As a result, major U.S. averages declined overnight. The blue-chip Dow Jones Industrial Average and S&P 500 closed down 0.3 and 0.4 percent respectively, while the Nasdaq Composite finished flat. A pullback in energy shares, alongside a 3.3 percent slump in crude oil prices overnight, also weighed on the bourses.

Nikkei gains 1%

Japan’s Nikkei 225 index extended gains, thanks to a jump in dollar-yen on the back of growing expectations of a December rate hike, and as heavyweight component Japan Tobacco rallied 7.1 percent.

Shares of the tobacco product manufacturer leaped in Tokyo trading after raising its year-end dividend and net income forecast.

Extending their winning streak into a second day, Japan Post Insuranceoutpaced its peers with a 13.4 percent surge, while Japan Post Holdings and Japan Post Bank climbed 3.4 and 6.2 percent respectively, following an impressive market debut in the previous trading session.

Among laggards, Takata skidded 25.2 percent to its lowest levels since April 2009, after Honda Motor said Wednesday it will no longer use air bag inflators made by the troubled parts supplier. Honda, which on Wednesday reported a 14 percent jump in net profit for the six months to September, closed down nearly 2 percent.

Toyota Motor edged up 0.5 percent amid choppy trade as investors await the carmaker’s earnings.

Toshiba tanked 3.4 percent after the Nikkei business daily said the company may report its first operating loss in 6 years for the April-September quarter.

Meanwhile, board members of the Bank of Japan (BOJ) maintained their upbeat view on the country’s economy but many of them warned that slowing growth in emerging markets, if prolonged, could weigh on exports, minutes of the central bank’s recent rate meeting showed on Thursday.

China markets up

China’s key Shanghai Composite trimmed gains in the afternoon trading session, coming off the day’s high of 3,585 points which was the index’s highest level since August 21. The Shanghai bourse was last seen 2.2 percent higher.

Securities firms were the clear winners on Thursday; Industrial Securities and Huatai Securities hit the daily upward limit of 10 percent, while Founder Securities and Everbright Securities soared 9.4 percent each. China Merchants Securities, Citic Securities and Haitong Securities tacked on between 6.4 and 8.5 percent.

Banks got a lift from the positive sentiment surrounding the securities firms, with Industrial and Commercial Bank of China (ICBC) and Bank of China rallying over 2 percent each.

Among other indexes, the blue-chip CSI300 Index surged 2.6 percent, but small-caps in the mainland lagged. The Nasdaq-style ChiNext board eased 0.7 percent.

Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index also fell short of the advances, inching down amid choppy trade.

China Southern Airlines clawed back early losses to bounce up 5.6 percent in Shanghai, brushing off news that its chairman Si Xianmin was being investigated by China’s anti-graft officials for ‘severe disciplinary violations.” The airline’s Hong Kong-listed stock also rebounded 2.9 percent.

Glencore shares surged 5.5 percent in Hong Kong after the commodity trader announced Wednesday plans to cut debt by selling assets.

ASX loses 0.9%

Weakness in the banking sector led Australia’s S&P ASX 200 index lower on Thursday.

National Australia Bank was the biggest loser after going ex-dividend; shares tumbled 4.5 percent. Commonwealth Bank of Australia, which announced first-quarter unaudited cash earnings of A$2.4 billion ($1.7 billion) early Thursday, gave up early gains and fell 1 percent. Westpacand Australia and New Zealand Banking eased 0.5 and 0.8 percent respectively.

Miners struggled amid falling iron ore prices; major players such as BHP Billiton and Rio Tinto lost 0.8 and 1.4 percent respectively.

Gold counters also remained on the back foot after gold prices lingered near 1-month lows in Asian trade. Newcrest Mining and Evolution Mining slid more than 3 percent each, while Kingsgate Consolidatedended 6.2 percent lower.

Virgin Australia failed to get a boost from results which showed the airline swung back to profit in the first quarter. The stock retreated 1 percent.

Kospi sags 0.2%

South Korea’s Kospi index edged down in rangebound trade.

Among decliners, shipbuilders such as Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering and Hyundai Mipo Dockyard slumped more than 2 percent each, while blue-chip Posco and Kepco closed down 0.3 and 0.9 percent respectively.

SK Telecom lost early gains to slip 0.2 percent. The telco was in focus after reporting a 28.1 percent year-on-year decline in third-quarter net profit on Wednesday. Meanwhile, a statement by Fitch Ratings said the acquisition of cable television operator CJ HelloVision will likely boost SK Telecom’s media business by broadening its subscriber base and strengthening its bundled services sales.

JKSE sheds 0.4%

Indonesia’s benchmark Jakarta Composite index sagged after the country’s third-quarter gross domestic product (GDP) came in narrowly below expectations.

The Indonesian economy expanded 4.73 percent on-year in the July-September period, slightly missing Reuters’ estimates of 4.79 percent but above the 4.67 percent growth registered in the preceding quarter. The second-quarter GDP figure marked Indonesia’s slowest pace of growth in six years, due to weak investment, falling consumer spending and low state expenditure.

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