 Asian stocks dented by weak US lead, data deluge
CNBC - 7/23/2015 8:09:55 AM
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Asian stocks mostly traded on the back foot early Thursday, as investors digested a flurry of economic data amid dampened sentiment due to a weaker finish on Wall Street overnight.
The spotlight remains on the commodity space; spot gold edged up modestly to $1,092.90 an ounce in early Asian trade after chalking up its 10th straight day of losses, in the longest losing streak for the precious metal in almost 20 years. In the energy space, U.S. crude fell below the $50 level after U.S. government data showed crude inventories up last week.
Over in Europe, the Greek government secured enough votes in parliament to pass a second package of reforms for a bailout package. The euro appeared little changed at 1.0944 against the greenback after the news.
Wall Street declined for a second straight session due to disappointing tech earnings overnight. The Nasdaq Composite was the biggest loser, down 0.7 percent, while the blue-chip Dow and the S&P 500 shed 0.4 and 0.2 percent, respectively.
Kospi sheds 0.4%
South Korea's Kospi index turned negative, while the won hit a fresh two-year low of 1,160.9 against the U.S. dollar, on the back of a lackluster growth report card for the second quarter,
The central bank's advance estimates showed the economy expanded 2.2 percent on-year in the June quarter, a tad below the 2.3 percent forecast from a Reuters poll, and below the 2.5 percent growth in the previous three months. Last month, the country announced a financial package of more than 15 trillion won ($13 billion), including a supplementary budget, to boost growth as a deadly outbreak of the Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS) threatened to harm the already shaky economy.
A barrage of earnings releases are expected to hit the markets on Thursday, including Hyundai Motor, which is expected to see a 16-percent on-year fall in operating profit, according to local market consensus. Shares of the carmaker climbed 2.3 percent.
Memory chip maker SK Hynix halved gains to 2.6 percent, after surging nearly 5 percent following the announcement of a share buyback worth 859.1 billion won, as it attempts to boost a stock price that has languished in recent months amid worries about a weaker business outlook. The company also reported a 26.9 percent rise in second-quarter operating profit, missing markets expectations, early Thursday.
Oil refiner SK Innovation plummeted 3.7 percent following news that it will halt the initial public offering (IPO) process for its SK Lubricants unit.
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