Asian Shares Slip as Oil Prices Fall
January 25 2016 - 9:30PM
Dow Jones News
Investors in Asia were back to selling Tuesday, as falling oil
prices delivered a further blow to the region's energy stocks.
In Hong Kong, the energy sector was down 3.3%, dragging down the
Hang Seng Index by 1.6%.
The Nikkei Stock Average was down 1.8%, with Tokyo-listed oil
developer Inpex Corp. was down 3.5%,
The Shanghai Composite Index was down 1.2% and South Korea's
Kospi was down 1.4%. Markets in Australia and India are closed for
holidays.
The same concerns that have haunted stocks this year remain: oil
prices are trading near multiyear lows and investors are worried
about a slowing China and plans by the U.S. Federal Reserve to
raise interest rates. But increasingly driving the action is the
further tumble in oil. Brent crude oil gave up gains earlier in
Asia to trade down 1.4% at $30.10 a barrel. In the U.S., prices had
slid 5.7% on Monday to $30.34 a barrel.
In the U.S., the Dow was down 1.3% overnight.
In Asia, Japan shares were getting pressure from the Japanese
yen, which strengthened by 0.2% to ¥ 118.09 per U.S. dollar.
Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group Inc. was down 3.9% at ¥ 603.0.
South Korean shares fell after data showed that the country's
economy slowed sharply in the final quarter of 2015. Gross domestic
product expanded at a seasonally adjusted 0.6% in the
October-December period from the previous quarter, after a revised
1.3% gain in the third quarter.
The latest growth figure was exactly in line with the median
forecast of a 0.6% expansion in the fourth quarter, according to a
Wall Street Journal survey.
Gold, a safe haven, was up 0.4% at $1,110 a troy ounce early in
Asia.
Kwanwoo Jun contributed to this story.
Write to Chao Deng at Chao.Deng@wsj.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
January 25, 2016 21:15 ET (02:15 GMT)
Copyright (c) 2016 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.
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