Asian Shares Mixed Despite Dovish Fed Minutes

(RTTNews) - Asian stocks closed mixed yet again on Thursday, as a firmer yen and weakness in global oil markets despite an unexpected drawdown in U.S. crude and gasoline stocks took some of the shine off the minutes from the Federal Reserve's July monetary policy meeting.

The FOMC minutes showed that officials were still split over the timing of the next interest-rate rise despite a strong rebound in employment in June. With weak growth in the U.S. and abroad and consumer price inflation continuing to run below the Committee's longer-run objective of 2 percent, Fed officials stopped short of any signals on the timing of their next move.

China's Shanghai Composite index slid 5.44 points or 0.17 percent to 3,104.11 after an official survey showed China home price growth moderated in July.

Hong Kong's Hang Seng index was up 223 points or 0.98 percent at 23,023. Index heavyweight Tencent was rallying almost 5 percent after the online entertainment and social network company reported a 47 percent jump in second-quarter profits.

Japanese shares hit their lowest levels in nearly two weeks as the yen firmed up and weak trade data signaled continued weak demand. Japan's exports fell more than forecast in July but imports also dropped at their fastest pace since 2009, resulting in a bigger-than-expected trade surplus, the Ministry of Finance said.

The yen climbed back above the ¥100 per dollar mark after St. Louis Fed President James Bullard, who is also a voting member of the Federal Open Market Committee, said in a speech on Wednesday that a single rate hike will likely suffice for the "foreseeable future."

The Nikkei average fell 259.63 points or 1.55 percent to 16,486.01, the lowest level since August 5. The broader Topix index also closed 1.55 percent lower at 1,290.79. Mitsui Fudosan, Kansai Electric Power, Mazda Motor and Olympus lost 3-6 percent. SoftBank Corp tumbled 4.6 percent after the Bloomberg reported CEO Masayoshi Son is still holding out hope for a deal to merge Sprint with T-Mobile.

Australian shares fell after solid employment data took pressure off the Reserve Bank of Australia to cut interest rates further. While the total number of people with jobs rose by 26,200 in July, the unemployment rate dropped to 5.7 percent, the lowest level in almost three years, official data showed. The Aussie dollar ticked higher after the jobs report.

The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 dropped 27.20 points or 0.49 percent to 5,507.80, a ten-day low, while the broader All Ordinaries index closed 20.80 points or 0.37 percent lower at 5,607.30. The big four banks fell between 0.2 percent and 1.2 percent. Wealth manager AMP slumped 4.7 percent after delivering a weaker-than-expected underlying interim profit.

Origin Energy dropped 1.2 percent as the oil & gas producer suspended dividend after posting a full-year net loss on an impairment charge. Construction giant CIMIC Group fell 1.9 percent after the head of its Dubai-based joint venture HLG had been detained by Dubai police.

Whitehaven Coal rallied 3.9 percent on reporting a bigger-than-expected annual profit. Gold miners Newcrest, Regis Resources, Northern Star Resources and Evolution Mining climbed 2-4 percent as gold steadied on skepticism over the possibility of an imminent U.S. rate increase. Treasury Wine Estates soared 11.5 percent after more than doubling its annual profit.

Seoul shares rose on buying by foreign investors and the local currency held steady after the FOMC minutes shed little light on when the Fed might raise rates. The benchmark Kospi rose 11.72 points or 0.57 percent to 2,055.47. Samsung Electronics jumped 4.7 percent to close at a record high ahead of its official Galaxy Note 7 release.

New Zealand shares advanced, with Tegel Group Holdings climbing 5.5 percent to hit a record high after the country's biggest chicken producer announced it had secured an agreement to export raw poultry to Australia. The benchmark S&P/NZX 50 index finished up 30.10 points or 0.41 percent at 7,385.12.

Auction website Trade Me Group rallied 5.1 percent and Spark New Zealand gained 2.9 percent after unveiling their full-year results. Fisher & Paykel Healthcare tumbled 3.2 percent after rival Resmed sought patent injunction on the company.

In economic releases, the latest survey from ANZ Bank revealed that consumer confidence in New Zealand ebbed slightly in August, with respondents expecting slower house price growth in Auckland.

India's Sensex was rising 0.6 percent after two days of losses. Indonesia's Jakarta Composite index was rallying 1.4 percent and the Taiwan Weighted closed marginally higher while Malaysia's KLSE Composite was down 0.1 percent and Singapore's Straits Times index was down 0.2 percent.

U.S. stocks recovered from early weakness to close marginally higher overnight, as earnings updates from retail giants Target and Lowe's disappointed investors and the Federal Reserve's July meeting minutes showed there is no consensus among policy makers about the outlook for monetary policy.