Asia report: Markets mixed as bank concerns resurface

Markets in the Asia-Pacific region closed with mixed results on Wednesday, as concerns over the stability of the banking sector resurfaced on Wall Street overnight.

Embattled US regional bank First Republic suffered a near-50% drop in its stock price after disclosing that deposits had fallen 40% in the first quarter, although they had since stabilised.

“Asian equity markets are clinging to modest gains, following a less-than-inspirational handover from Wall Street as US investors hit the sell button into the close as banking contagion concerns resurfaced,” said Patrick Munnelly at TickMill Group.

“First Republic Bank shed another 50% of its already-decimated share price, as the beleaguered bank confirmed it is considering a $100bn asset sale to shore up its liquidity position.

“The late sell-off in US markets found some support after the close of New York trading, however, as robust earnings from Microsoft and Google parent Alphabet saw US futures markets recover some of the late losses.”

Markets mixed on fresh banking sector jitters

In Japan, the Nikkei 225 and Topix dropped by 0.71% and 0.89%, respectively.

Nippon Kayaku, Concordia Financial Group, and Shinsei Bank were among the biggest losers on Tokyo’s benchmark, falling by 3.31%, 2.71%, and 2.7%.

In China, the Shanghai Composite declined by 0.02%, while the Shenzhen Component rose by 0.33%.

Guangdong Wencan and Dawning Information Industry were the worst-performing stocks in Shanghai, both declining by 10%.

Meanwhile, in Hong Kong, the Hang Seng Index increased by 0.71%.

Xinyi Solar, BYD, and Hansoh Pharmaceutical Group were among the biggest gainers, rising by a respective 5.14%, 4.39%, and 3.26%.

South Korea's Kospi decreased by 0.17%, with Hyundai Mobis and Korea Aerospace Industries recording the biggest losses, falling 6.53% and 5.88%.

In Australia, the S&P/ASX 200 declined by 0.08%, with Mineral Resources and Pilbara Minerals being the worst-performing stocks, both falling by 9.67% and 5.91%, respectively.

New Zealand’s S&P/NZX 50 dropped by 0.76%, with Synlait Milk and its customer A2 Milk suffering serious losses, declining by 27.1% and 5.45%.

On the currency front, the yen was last 0.24% stronger on the dollar at JPY 133.44, while the Aussie and the Kiwi were 0.34% and 0.13% weaker against the greenback, respectively, changing hands at AUD 1.5143 and NZD 1.6314.

In oil markets, Brent crude futures were last down 0.06% on ICE at $80.72 per barrel, while the NYMEX quote for West Texas Intermediate rose 0.21% to $77.23.

Hong Kong trade declines, inflation slows in Australia

In economic news, Hong Kong’s exports and imports declined 1.5% and 0.6% year-on-year respectively in March, according to the latest data from the city’s statistics department.

The total value of exports reached $367.2bn, while imports stood at $407.8bn.

Exports to mainland China continued to decline, while those to other markets in Asia were mixed, and exports to the United States and the European Union grew.

Australia's inflation rate for the first quarter meanwhile slowed to 7% year-on-year, down from the previous quarter's 23-year high of 7.8%.

The fresh data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics marked the end of a five-quarter acceleration in the consumer price index (CPI).

Gas and household fuels were the biggest contributors to inflation, rising 14.3%, while tertiary education and domestic holiday travel increased 9.7% and 4.7%, respectively.

Finally on data, industrial production in Singapore declined 4.2% year-on-year in March, beating expectations for a 6.1% fall predicted by economists polled by Reuters.

It was the sixth consecutive contraction for industrial output in the city-state since October.

On a monthly basis, Singapore's manufacturing output increased 9.3%, swinging from an 11.7% contraction in the prior month.

Reporting by Josh White for Sharecast.com.