Asian Stocks Rise On Wall Street Cues; China Retreats

(RTTNews) - Asian stocks rose broadly on Monday in the wake of strong gains on Wall Street Friday, as oil prices rebounded sharply and a gauge of U.S. consumer sentiment vaulted up to an 11-year high in January, propelled by a strengthening job market and lower fuel costs.

Chinese shares bucked the upward trend, with the benchmark Shanghai Composite index plunging 7.70 percent to finish at 3,116.35, after the country's securities regulator imposed margin trading curbs on three major brokerages, a sign that authorities are making efforts to keep investor enthusiasm in check after big gains last year.

Interestingly, the sell-off came a day before the release of a slew of Chinese data on GDP, retail sales, industrial production and fixed asset investment. China's new home prices fell significantly in December for a fourth straight month even as year-end sales volumes surged, according to data posted by the National Bureau of Statistics on Sunday.

Hong Kong's Hang Seng index dropped 1.51 percent to finish at 23,738.49 in tandem with the slide in Chinese stocks.

Japanese shares rose, tracking a positive lead from Wall Street and Europe Friday as a gauge of U.S. household confidence surged and investors bet on ECB stimulus. The benchmark Nikkei average rose 0.89 percent to 17,014.29, rebounding from a 2-1/2-month low hit on Friday, while the broader Topix index advanced 0.6 percent. The yen gained against all its counterparts, limiting potential gains. Among the prominent gainers, Sumitomo Corp, Nippon Sheet Glass and Tosch Corp rose 3-5 percent.

Exporters closed mostly higher, with Sony rallying 2.5 percent, while Canon, Fanuc, Honda Motor and Mazda Motor all closed up about a percent each. Sharp Corp tumbled 8.7 percent on a Nikkei report that the electronics firm would slide back into the red this financial year due to a slump in its television business. Meanwhile, the company warned today that it will likely miss its earnings target this year due to fierce price competition in display panels for TVS and smartphones.

On the economic front, Japan's industrial production declined less than initially estimated in November, final figures from the Ministry of Economy and Trade and Industry showed. Output dropped a seasonally adjusted 0.5 percent in November from the previous month, revised from a 0.6 percent fall. Another government report showed that Japan's consumer confidence index rose to 38.8 in December from 37.7 in the previous month. Economists had forecast the index to rise to 38.5.

Australian shares ended off their day's high as investors adopted a cautious stance ahead of Chinese GDP data slated for release Tuesday. The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 index rose 0.19 percent to finish at 5,309.10. Energy stocks rose broadly, with Woodside Petroleum edging up marginally, while Santos rose 0.7 percent and Oil Search added 4.9 percent.

Brent crude prices surged more than 5 percent on Friday, the most since June 2012, after the International Energy Agency said the recent collapse in oil prices will likely curtail non-OPEC oil production this year.

Miners ended mixed, with BHP climbing 2.4 percent and Rio Tinto gaining half a percent while smaller rival Fortescue Metals Group slid 1.3 percent. In the banking space, ANZ edged up 0.1 percent, while NAB, Westpac and Commonwealth fell between 0.2 percent and 0.6 percent. Macquarie Group rallied 5.4 percent as the investment bank lifted its full-year profit forecast, citing a lower Australian dollar and improved trading conditions.

In economic releases, purchases of new motor vehicle sales in Australia rose 3.0 percent sequentially to 94,903 in December, the highest level since June last year, according to figures released by the Australian Bureau of Statistics. Separately, data from TD Securities showed that its measure of consumer prices rose an annual 1.5 percent in December, down from 2.2 percent in November.

Seoul shares rose notably, with refining and shipbuilding companies rallying, as oil prices rebounded and the Swiss National Bank's decision last week to scrap its cap against the euro fanned speculation that the European Central Bank will embark on a sovereign bond-buying program later this week. The benchmark Kospi average rose 0.77 percent to close above the 1,900 mark.

In economic news, South Korea's producer prices fell 0.9 percent in December from the previous month after a 0.3 percent decline in November, central bank data showed.

New Zealand shares rose as Hallenstein Glasson issued a profit upgrade after a strong Christmas period. The benchmark NZX-50 index rose 0.38 percent to finish the session at 5,638.14 in relatively thin trade due to Wellington Anniversary Day. Hallenstein Glasson jumped 7.9 percent after the clothing retailer said it expects first-half earnings to rise by about a third. Fellow retailer Kathmandu Holdings rallied 2.7 percent while The Warehouse Group, which flagged weak Christmas sales earlier this year, fell 2.6 percent.

Spark New Zealand jumped 2.6 percent amid the hunt for yield ahead of the European Central Bank policy meeting on Thursday, with many economists expecting the central bank to roll out a government bond-buying program, as negative inflation figures reported for December provide scope for monetary policy maneuvering.

Elsewhere, India's Sensex was gaining 0.7 percent, Malaysia's KLSE Composite was up 0.6 percent Singapore's Straits Times index was moving up 0.2 percent and the Taiwan Weighted average rose 0.4 percent, while Indonesian shares were slightly subdued.

On Wall Street, the major averages snapped a five-session losing streak on Friday as the price of crude oil swung higher and investors digested a slew of mixed data showing a modest pullback in industrial production, a surge in consumer confidence and weakening core inflation.

Traders grew more optimistic that a benign inflationary and commodity environment will make the case for delaying the 1st interest rate increase from the Federal Reserve. The Dow rallied 1.1 percent, the tech-heavy Nasdaq jumped 1.4 percent and the S&P 500 climbed 1.3 percent.