BEIJING (AP) – Asian stocks were mixed Wednesday as some benchmarks bounced back after Japan upgraded its growth estimate and China reported weak but improved trade in May.
KEEPING SCORE: The Shanghai Composite Index fell 0.4 percent to 2,925.11 and Hong Kong’s Hang Seng lost 0.3 percent to 21,257.75. Tokyo’s Nikkei 225 rose 0.7 percent to 16,796.06 while Seoul’s Kospi advanced 0.7 percent to 2,025.36. Sydney’s S&P-ASX 200 retreated a smidgen to 5,369.60 and New Zealand also declined. India’s Sensex advanced 0.1 percent to 27,050.31. Benchmarks for Taiwan and Singapore rose but Indonesia was lower.
WALL STREET: Stocks edged up, led by gains for energy companies as oil prices rose. Chevron rose 2.1 percent while Newfield Exploration added 4.7 percent. The Dow Jones industrial average and Standard & Poor’s 500 index both gained 0.1 percent. The Nasdaq composite, heavily weighted with biotech companies, lost 0.1 percent.
GLOBAL GROWTH: The World Bank cut its forecast for this year’s global economic growth to 2.4 percent from the 2.9 percent pace projected in January. It cited sluggish growth in advanced economies, stubbornly low commodity prices, weak global trade and diminishing capital flows. It said half the revision was prompted by the struggle of commodity-exporting economies to adapt to lower prices for oil and other key commodities.
ANALYST’S TAKE: “It does seem like the various financial markets are a little disjointed, as trades are somewhat odd,” said Bernard Aw of IG in a report. He pointed to a slump in yields on German, Japanese and other sovereign bonds, which forces investors to buy riskier assets. “Global equities are firmer, but it is not indicative of an uptake in risk appetite,” said Aw. “The up-move was mostly driven by higher oil prices.”