Tokyo (awp/afp) – The Tokyo Stock Exchange posted an increase of more than 2% late Thursday morning in a market boosted by the drop in the yen, while the Hong Kong Stock Exchange fell for the first time in addition to a week after a meteoric rise fueled by Beijing.
In Tokyo, the flagship Nikkei index rose 2.2% to 38,655.03 points around 02:30 GMT.
The Japanese currency briefly hit its lowest level for almost two months at 147.17 yen per dollar, before recovering to 146.90 yen, remaining however at a low rate likely to favor Japanese exporting companies.
The yen fell by 2% on Wednesday in American trade, in reaction to statements by the new head of government Shigeru Ishiba who estimated that his country was not “in an environment conducive to further rate increases”.
The governor of the Bank of Japan (BoJ), Kazuo Ueda, for his part stressed that his institution would support the economy “through accommodating monetary conditions”.
The Japanese currency continued to fall against the euro on Thursday, to 162.06 yen.
However, “the arguments remain to anticipate a strengthening of the yen, which should remain supported by its appeal as a safe haven” in the face of geopolitical tensions, “and by a reduction in the yield gap” between Japan and the United States, where the Central Bank (Fed) should continue to lower its rates, estimates Charu Chanana of FX Strategy.
“But the Fed and the BOJ are likely to act gradually” to modify their rates, “which will slow down” such progression of the yen, she recognizes.
Hong Kong down
On the other hand, it was time for profit-taking on Thursday in Hong Kong after strong increases.
The Hang Seng Index fell 3.34 percent to 21,694.34 points, after rising more than 20 percent in total following a series of economic stimulus measures initiated by Beijing last week. .
China has adopted a series of monetary easing measures to revive growth, including a reduction in interest rates and the amount of mandatory deposits. A relaxation of the rules for access to housing was also announced.
The biggest winners of the rally have been real estate companies, some of which have seen gains of more than 100%. Several of them were hit hard by the correction on Thursday such as Kaisa, Agile and Sunac, which lost between 25 and 30%.
Tech companies, which also enjoyed spectacular gains over the past week, were also in the red.
JD.com lost 10%, Alibaba fell around 7% and Tencent fell more than 3%.
Markets in mainland China are closed for the National Day holiday.
For their part, oil prices continued to rise in a feverish market faced with renewed tensions in the Middle East.
Around 02:30 GMT, the price of a barrel of Brent from the North Sea increased by 1.0% to $74.62. A barrel of American West Texas Intermediate (WTI) gained 1.1% to $70.88.
Black gold prices skyrocketed on Wednesday at the start of American trading, boosted by fears of disruptions in the supply of crude, after the Iranian attack on Israel and threats of an Israeli response.
The oil market then ran out of steam, speculation about an increase in production from OPEC countries somewhat outweighing the escalation in the Middle East.
The market cooled “thanks to a reality check with the announcement of an increase last week in US oil stocks: the market could be better supplied than previously thought”, estimates Stephen Innes, analyst. at SPI Asset Management. But “caution remains in order,” he judges.
afp/cw
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