Asian shares mixed after Wall St fall

Strong earnings are supporting the markets even as concerns deepen over the trajectory for the US economy following relatively weak jobs data. Strong earnings reports from the biggest U.S. companies continue to roll in

Tokyo: Asian shares were mixed Thursday after declines on Wall Street, as the gyrations that recently slammed global markets haunted investors.Japan’s benchmark Nikkei 225 retrieved earlier losses to be down 0.5 per cent in afternoon trading at 34,915.47. Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 shed 0.4 per cent to 7,673.10. South Korea’s Kospi dropped 0.7 per cent to 2,551.36. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng rose 0.8 per cent to 17,018.62. The Shanghai Composite picked up 0.3 per cent to 2,877.28. Taiwan’s Taiex dropped 1.9 per cent as computer chip maker Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. lost 2.5 per cent, tracking losses in the tech sector on Wall Street and elsewhere. Some semiconductor equipment makers and related companies saw further losses. Advantest Corp. dropped 3.2 per cent and Disco Corp. sank 4 per cent. But Lasertec Corp.’s stock jumped 22.6 per cent after it reported a 28 per cent jump in its net profit for the fiscal year that ended June 30.

The S&P 500 and Dow futures were little changed. Although Wall Street slumped on Wednesday, the decline wasn’t as bad as the manic moves that wracked worldwide markets earlier in the week. European markets logged strong gains. Japanese officials moved Wednesday to calm concerns over potential rate hikes after an increase in its key rate contributed to the heavy selling on Monday, when the Nikkei suffered its worst percentage loss since 1987. The Japanese yen was relatively stable after big gains in its value against the U.S. dollar that led investors to dump shares on Friday and Monday. The U.S. dollar fell to 146.24 Japanese yen from 146.72 yen. The euro cost $1.0935, up from $1.0927. Investors are also paying close attention to earnings reports being released across the globe. Honda Motor Co. and Sony Corp. both released relatively positive financial results this week.