Market Report – Asia Banks Dip

In today’s market report… U.S. financial sector concerns and a resurgent yen chilled Asian investor enthusiasm. Even signs of better regional growth could not offset the news.

Australian banks, like financials across the region, followed U.S. peers lower, as investors took little comfort in surprisingly brisk Oz economic expansion.

In South Korea, news GDP growth would likely be revised up to at least 2.6 percent could not boost the Seoul benchmark, which hit a 13-month high Tuesday.

A brokerage downgrade of global insurer AIG, which sent its shares plummeting over 20 percent, hit Japan’s top bank, Mitsubishi UFJ, while a rise in the yen weighed on exporters like carmaker Toyota.

Toyota declined despite plans to raise production of pickups and fuel-efficient cars to meet expected demand. And Oil stabilized after a further 3 percent fall Tuesday, while China’s hike in fuel prices to a near-record high boosted PetroChina and Sinopec, offering support to the Shanghai share market.

(NTDTV)