Asian stocks were seen falling sharply on Friday, dragged lower by Wall Street losses seen overnight amid the ongoing geopolitical tensions between Russia and Ukraine and the Middle East.
The Japanese Nikkei 225 index declined 1.18% to 15,053.12 at the time of writing, while Tokyo’s Topix index fell 0.9% to 1,246.75.
Japanese Multinational Corporation Nikon slumped by 9.4% to 1,435.5 yen, the lowest since September 2012 after reducing its profit estimates for the full year by 16% to 38 billion yen. Taiyo Yuden shares slid 8.9% to 981 yen as the material and electric company downgraded its first-half net income target by 83% to 700 million after a sharp loss in its first-quarter figures.
Other losses in Japan included glass-makers Nippon Electric Glass with shares falling 8.8% to 518 yen and Mitsubishi Corp losing 3% during the session.
The Bank of Japan (BoJ) maintained its record stimulus after reports from the Ministry of finance released export figures which signaled weakness. The central bank maintained its current policy of expanding the monetary base from 60 trillion yen to 70 trillion annually.
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Meanwhile the nation’s current account came in at 399.1 billion yen in June, down from the previous figure of 522.8 billion in May. Exports came in at 4.4% on an annual basis, while imports soared 13.9% from the previous year.
Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index edged 0.09% to 24,366.19, while the Chinese benchmark Shanghai Composite added 0.03% to 2,188.26.
China are expected to release the nation’s trade figures for July as forecast are expecting the report to show the trade surplus contracting to $27.4 billion, compared to $31.56 billion in June.
Casino operators in China extended losses as Galaxy Entertainment slumped 0.5% to HK$59.10, while Sands China fell 1% to HK$51.85. Melco Crown tumbled 3.4% to HK$75.95 after saying the company’s figures for the second-quarter before interest, taxed; amortization and depreciation declined 11% from the previous year to $313.6 million.
In Sydney, the benchmark S&P/ASX 200 index fell 0.36% lower to trade 5,489.20 as the mining sector saw major losses. BHP Billiton, the world’s largest mining company slid 0.8% lower in shares, while Rio Tinto gained 0.5% after posting an upbeat earnings report.
In the banking sector, the National Australia Bank and Commonwealth Bank of Australia lost 0.6% each during the early trading hours, while shares in Westpac and ANZ fell close to 0.5% each.
European Stocks
Stocks in Europe were seen falling on Friday amid the ongoing geopolitical tensions.
The European Euro Stoxx 50 edged 0.46% lower to 2,998.15 at the time of writing, while the French CAC 40 index lost 0.37% to 4,134.37. At the same time the German DAX slid 0.90% to 8,957.46 and UK’s benchmark FTSE 100 declined 0.72% to 6,549.81.
Germany posted a trade surplus of 16.5 billion euros in June, compared to the 17.8 billion reported last month measured on a non-seasonally adjusted basis, according to the Federal Statistical Office. While the nation’s current account came in at 15.0 billion euros, after the 12.2 billion euros seen in May.
While the industrial production in France rose 1.3% on a monthly basis in June, compared to the 1.6% fall recorded in May, while on an annual basis the output fell 0.4%, the National Institute for Statistics and Economic Studies said.
The US President Obama said he has authorized air strikes in Iraq to protect US personnel, however US troops will not be returning to Iraq, he said. The announcement is weighing on the global market and persuading traders’ money into safe-haven assets such as the Japanese yen and gold.
Meanwhile traders continue to focus on Russia as the tension between the country and the Western nations heightened after Russian President Vladimir Putin imposed a ban on imports from the US and European Union countries in response to the sanctions imposed by the countries.
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