China rebound, other Asian markets mostly up after US data

Japan’s core consumer price index (CPI) rose 0.1 percent on-year in June , a tad above the 0.0 percent forecast in a Reuters poll.

“We’re seeing some pretty good follow-through, in terms of U.S. dollar-buying, after the Fed statement which suggests that September still appears to be an option”, said Sue Trinh, senior currency strategist at RBC Capital Markets in Hong Kong.

The U.S. central bank said after its regular policy meeting on Wednesday that the economy and job market continue to strengthen, leaving the door open for a possible interest rate increase at its next meeting.

The benchmark Shanghai Composite index rallied more than 3 percent before reversing direction to end the session down 83.40 points or 2.20 percent at 3,705.77 on late sell-off in the final 30 minutes of trade.

The Standard & Poor’s 500 index gave up three points, or 0.1 per cent, to 2,105. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng lost 0.5pc to 24,497.98.

Asian shares were mostly lower during the trading session today.

Nintendo shares climbed 8.3 percent after the company swung to an unexpected net profit during the April-June quarter, boosted by cost controls and robust videogame business. On Wednesday, the Dow and the S&P both rose 0.7pc and the Nasdaq composite gained 0.4pc.

Panasonic shares shed 5.79%, as the company’s profit fell 7% during the first quarter on housing tech sales decline. Another report showed that export prices dropped 4.4 percent sequentially in the second quarter of 2015, widening from a 0.8 percent slip in the preceding three quarters. Stocks in Australia and New Zealand were higher as well as most stocks in Southeast Asia. Oil prices rose on Thursday after data showed declines in U.S. stockpiles, surprising traders who had anticipated little change. Gross domestic product (GDP) grew 0.64 percent on-year, way below Reuters’ forecast of 2.67 percent.

Procter & Gamble slid 3 per cent in midday trading Thursday after reporting that its sales fell for the sixth straight quarter. It is imperative to state that a Fed rate hike would be seen as a huge negative for Asian equities. Even when energy is excluded, revenue is still up only 1.8 percent from the same period a year earlier.

China CSI300 stock index futures for August fell 0.1 percent to 3,678.6, but was still 133.74 points below the current value of the underlying index, pointing to investor expectations of further losses.

U.S. stocks rose on Wednesday after the release of FOMC statement.