Japanese shares gain on weaker yen

Asia-Pacific equities were mixed on Wednesday, with the Japanese market among the few showing much upward momentum, lifted by Wall Street's gains overnight and exporters riding a softening of the yen.

The Nikkei 225 gained 0.9 per cent to a four-month high of 14,179.49. The broader Topix was up 1.6 per cent at 1,398.89, teetering on the edge of 1,400, a mark it hasn't crossed since January 10. Trading resumed in Tokyo after a two-day holiday pause.

The yen traded at Y104.81, weaker than Tuesday's Y104.35, bolstering the stocks of Nissan Motor, which gained 3.6 per cent to Y974, Nintendo, which was up 2.8 per cent at Y58,400, and Toyota Motor, which rose 2.6 per cent to Y5,570.

Financial stocks were boosted by easing concerns over credit concerns globally. Mitsubishi UFJ Financial rallied 3.4 per cent to Y1,169 while Mizuho Financial jumped 4.3 per cent to Y562,000.

Over in Australia, financial stocks faired less well, dropping for a second day after some downbeat data on consumer confidence and home building. Disappointing earnings from St George Bank also weighed on the sector.

The S&P/ASX 200 scraped a 0.1 per cent gain to 5,706.6, aided by resource stocks rallying on oil prices.

St George Bank fell for a second day, recently down 2.9 per cent at A$26.20. National Australia Bank lost 2 per cent to A$30.78 and Australia & New Zealand Banking Group shed 1.1 per cent to A$22.65.

Resource stocks rallied across the region after crude oil hit another record high of more than $122 per barrel overnight. West Texas Intermediate recently traded at $121.79.

Japanese trading house Mitsubishi Corp., which has investments in upstream operations, surged 5.5 per cent to Y3,460, leading the Nikkei higher, while smaller rival Mitsui & Co. jumped 6.3 per cent to Y2,540. Inpex, the oil producer, surged 11 per cent to Y1.25m.

Yahoo Japan shares slid 2.4 per cent to Y46,100, feeling the repercussions of Microsoft's withdrawal of its bid to take over US parent company Yahoo. Shares of Alibaba.com, another Yahoo affiliate, dropped 2.9 per cent to HK$14.98. The company posted a quarterly net profit of Rmb300.7m, beating forecasts. The stock initially rose but traded down over outlook concerns.

BHP Billiton gained 2.5 per cent to A$45.51 and Rio Tinto rose 2.8 per cent to A$145.90. Woodside Petroleum moved up 0.8 per cent to A$60.50.

Cattle rancher Australian Agricultural Co. tumbled 8.6 per cent to A$2.86 after earlier plunging as much as 14 per cent on news that Futuris Corp. had decided against selling its stake in the company. Futuris tumbled 10 per cent to A$1.89.

In Hong Kong, shares slid 1.9 per cent to 25,771.72, led by Cheung Kong, which dropped 2.2 per cent to HK$124.00. The main index of mainland Chinese shares traded in the territory fell 3 per cent to 14,216.97.

Over in Shanghai, shares were down 1.1 per cent at 3,691.951, led by financial stocks. ICBC led the Shanghai Composite index down, falling 1.5 per cent to Rmb6.39, while Bank of Communications lost 1.5 per cent to Rmb10.25.

In Seoul, the Kospi dropped 0.8 per cent to 1,843.56. The Straits Times Index in Singapore was down 0.4 per cent at 3,236.92 and Taipei gained 1.1 per cent to 8,955.06. Over in Mumbai, the Sensex fell 0.3 per cent to 17,330.41.

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