Japanese telecoms giant NTT stole the spotlight in mixed Asian stock trade Wednesday as a surge in profits motivated investors hungry for improving economic and corporate data.
The euro pushed to a one-week high versus the dollar following strong German data, while Japanese government bonds gained and oil and gold were little changed.
Shares in Nippon Telegraph and Telephone Corp (NTT), the world's largest telecoms group by sales, surged 11.1 percent after the company said Tuesday its half-year group net profit jumped nearly 12-fold.
That helped Tokyo's Nikkei average close up 0.2 percent at 10,226.2 after it fell three percent to a three-month low on Tuesday.
"This feels like a rather half-hearted rebound without a lot of power," said Masaharu Sakudo, adviser at Tachibana Securities. "It seems it is mostly just based on the big jump in NTT."
An MSCI index of shares elsewhere in the Asia Pacific was flat at around 0600 GMT as shares fell in Hong Kong, Taiwan and Singapore but gained in Australia and South Korea.
In Europe, Commerzbank AG will be in focus after the German bank confirmed it would launch a capital increase after plunging to a third-quarter net loss.
EURO GAINS
In currency trade, dealers said options-related buying pushed the euro up to $1.1582 its highest since Nov. 3, and to a session high of 125.95 yen
Tuesday, Germany's influential ZEW index of investor expectations jumped more than expected to 67.2, boosted by strong September orders, a stock market rally and a weaker euro.
The dollar was steady at 108.76 yen supported by fears of Japanese intervention after it hit a three-year-low of 107.86 Monday and signs of an improving U.S. economy.
"The market wants to sell dollars but recent data has been strong so it is still sort of reluctant," said Jun Kitazawa, assistant vice president of the forex section at Brown Brothers Harriman in Tokyo.
Japanese government bond (JGB) prices gained on worries the economy could lose steam and healthy demand at a five-year JGB auction Tuesday. The yield on the benchmark 10-year JGB fell 0.04 percentage point to 1.355 percent. U.S. Treasuries were steady.
Gold was steady at $388 an ounce versus $387.60 in late U.S. trade. U.S. oil dipped six cents to $31.09 a barrel.
HONG KONG SHARES FALL
Asian shares were undermined by losses on Wall Street, where the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 0.2 percent and the Nasdaq Composite Index lost 0.6 percent. U.S. investors are awaiting further evidence that the economy is gathering momentum, traders said.
Hong Kong investors were in a similar mood as the Hang Seng Index fell 0.9 percent in morning trade. China Resources Power Holdings Co. Ltd., the fourth Chinese power producer to list in the territory, held just above its issue price at the lunch break.
"The price-to-earnings ratio is higher than peers such as Huaneng Power," said Linus Yip, a strategist at First Shanghai Securities Ltd.
South Korean shares rose 1.1 percent as top lender Kookmin Bank jumped 3.2 percent, rebounding from heavy losses in recent days.
Singapore fell 0.7 percent by midday on fears firms such as Chartered Semiconductor Manufacturing would sell shares to raise cash. Chartered fell 3.3 percent.
Australian stocks rose 0.1 percent while Taiwan fell two-thirds of a percent.
European stocks closed lower for a second day running on Tuesday.
The euro pushed to a one-week high versus the dollar following strong German data, while Japanese government bonds gained and oil and gold were little changed.
Shares in Nippon Telegraph and Telephone Corp (NTT), the world's largest telecoms group by sales, surged 11.1 percent after the company said Tuesday its half-year group net profit jumped nearly 12-fold.
That helped Tokyo's Nikkei average close up 0.2 percent at 10,226.2 after it fell three percent to a three-month low on Tuesday.
"This feels like a rather half-hearted rebound without a lot of power," said Masaharu Sakudo, adviser at Tachibana Securities. "It seems it is mostly just based on the big jump in NTT."
An MSCI index of shares elsewhere in the Asia Pacific was flat at around 0600 GMT as shares fell in Hong Kong, Taiwan and Singapore but gained in Australia and South Korea.
In Europe, Commerzbank AG will be in focus after the German bank confirmed it would launch a capital increase after plunging to a third-quarter net loss.
EURO GAINS
In currency trade, dealers said options-related buying pushed the euro up to $1.1582 its highest since Nov. 3, and to a session high of 125.95 yen
Tuesday, Germany's influential ZEW index of investor expectations jumped more than expected to 67.2, boosted by strong September orders, a stock market rally and a weaker euro.
The dollar was steady at 108.76 yen supported by fears of Japanese intervention after it hit a three-year-low of 107.86 Monday and signs of an improving U.S. economy.
"The market wants to sell dollars but recent data has been strong so it is still sort of reluctant," said Jun Kitazawa, assistant vice president of the forex section at Brown Brothers Harriman in Tokyo.
Japanese government bond (JGB) prices gained on worries the economy could lose steam and healthy demand at a five-year JGB auction Tuesday. The yield on the benchmark 10-year JGB fell 0.04 percentage point to 1.355 percent. U.S. Treasuries were steady.
Gold was steady at $388 an ounce versus $387.60 in late U.S. trade. U.S. oil dipped six cents to $31.09 a barrel.
HONG KONG SHARES FALL
Asian shares were undermined by losses on Wall Street, where the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 0.2 percent and the Nasdaq Composite Index lost 0.6 percent. U.S. investors are awaiting further evidence that the economy is gathering momentum, traders said.
Hong Kong investors were in a similar mood as the Hang Seng Index fell 0.9 percent in morning trade. China Resources Power Holdings Co. Ltd., the fourth Chinese power producer to list in the territory, held just above its issue price at the lunch break.
"The price-to-earnings ratio is higher than peers such as Huaneng Power," said Linus Yip, a strategist at First Shanghai Securities Ltd.
South Korean shares rose 1.1 percent as top lender Kookmin Bank jumped 3.2 percent, rebounding from heavy losses in recent days.
Singapore fell 0.7 percent by midday on fears firms such as Chartered Semiconductor Manufacturing would sell shares to raise cash. Chartered fell 3.3 percent.
Australian stocks rose 0.1 percent while Taiwan fell two-thirds of a percent.
European stocks closed lower for a second day running on Tuesday.
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