By Daniel Inman
Shanghai gave up most of its gains from the previous session,
leading declines Tuesday in Asia, while the Indonesian rupiah hit a
more-than-four-year low against the dollar.
Stocks continued to come down from the initial excitement
following the U.S. Federal Reserve's decision last week to leave
bond buying unchanged. That gave markets in Asia a boost on
Thursday, though stocks have weakened since then.
The region's worst performer was China, where the Shanghai
Composite fell 1.2%, retreating from Monday's 1.3% gain on signs of
improvement in manufacturing activity.
"The global growth story is real, but probably not enough to
give equities an extra leg up right now," said Chris Weston,
Melbourne-based chief market strategist at broker IG. "It would be
healthy to have a bit of a pullback."
Many markets took their lead from the U.S., where Wall Street
ended Monday lower as investors continued trying to determine the
Fed's monetary-policy plans. One central bank official said Monday
that the economy isn't strong enough for a pullback of easy-money
policies.
In the currency market, the rupiah (USDIDR) dropped to 11,525
against the dollar -- a level not seen since April 2009 -- as the
greenback rebounded against Southeast Asian currencies this
week.
The yen strengthened to 98.72 yen to the dollar early in Asia
compared with Yen98.84 late on Monday in New York and Yen99.33 late
on Friday.
Stocks in Tokyo resumed trading after a public holiday on Monday
with the Nikkei Average down 0.8% as a stronger yen (USDJPY)
weighed on the market.
Exporters were affected by the firmer currency -- especially car
companies. Toyota Motor Corp. (TM) dropped 0.6%, and Honda Motor
Co. (HMC) was 1.2% lower.
Miners led Australia's S&P ASX 200 0.6% lower. Rio Tinto
(RIO) dropped 1.1%, and BHP Billiton (BHP) slid 0.8%.
South Korea's Kospi fell 0.7%, and Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index dropped 1.1%.
Southeast Asia also fell, with the Philippines PSE Composite
0.5% lower, and Indonesia's JSX down 0.8%, and Singapore's Strait
Times Index 0.1% lower.
A number of Asian companies supplying U.S. technology giant
Apple Inc. (AAPL) moved higher after the company reported a
"record-breaking" opening weekend for its newest iPhones. Apple's
stock finished 5% higher on Monday, and on Tuesday Murata
Manufacturing Co. (6981.OK) gained 1.3% in Tokyo, LG Display (LPL)
rose 1.7% in Seoul, and Hon Hai Precision Industry (HNHPF) rose
0.5% in Taiwan.
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