Asian Stocks Mostly Down Ahead of MSCI, Central Bank News
June 14 2016 - 12:20AM
Dow Jones News
Shares in Asia mostly slipped Tuesday amid lingering worries
about the U.K. possibly leaving the European Union.
But the mood was generally less dire than Monday, as investors
wait for the results of three key central-bank monetary policy
meetings. The U.S. Federal Reserve, Bank of Japan and Bank of
England are gathering this week.
"It's the calm before the storm," said Alex Wijaya, senior sales
trader at CMC Markets in Singapore.
Japan's Nikkei Stock Average was down 1.3%, Korea's Kospi fell
0.4% and Australia's S&P/ASX 200 lost 1.8%. The Hang Seng Index
retreated 0.1%, while the Shanghai Composite Index rose 0.2%.
Falling Japanese stocks added to the previous day's losses,
despite the yen holding steady in the morning. Monday, the
benchmark Nikkei had posted its biggest drop in six weeks to a
two-month low, while the yen moved higher. Investors typically
scramble for yen, seen as a safe-haven asset, during times of
market turmoil.
Tuesday morning, the Japanese yen held steady at 106.01 to one
U.S. dollar. A stronger yen hurts the competitiveness of Japanese
exporters.
Banking shares in Japan slumped as interest rates trended lower.
Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group sank 2.4%, and Sumitomo Mitsui
Financial Group was down 2%.
Elsewhere, Chinese stocks rebounded slightly after a 3.2%
selloff on Monday. Investors were waiting for MSCI's decision, to
be announced Tuesday evening in New York, on whether to include
Chinese stocks in its widely tracked Emerging Markets Index.
Amid the uncertainty leading up the U.K. referendum next week,
investors are shedding riskier assets such as stocks and buying yen
and gold, Mr. Wijaya said.
Gold rose overnight and was recently trading at $1,284.50 per
troy ounce.
Kosaku Narioka contributed to this article.
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
June 14, 2016 00:05 ET (04:05 GMT)
Copyright (c) 2016 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.
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