Asia-Pacific shares keep falling, Oz energy stocks hit hard

Asia-Pacific shares continue to fall, Australian energy stocks hit hard

By Edwin Mitson

Jan. 11 (BusinessDesk) - Shares across Asia have failed to shrug off last week's New Year blues, with the S&P/NZX 50 index, the S&P/ASX 200, and Chinese stock market all down.

The NZX50 is currently down 0.9 percent, or 56 points, to 6,102. The index was led down by Sky Network Television, which dropped 2.6 to $4.13, Fletcher Building down 2.3 percent to $6.88 and A2 Milk Company, which fell 2.3 percent to $1.73. The index has fallen just over 3.5 percent in the year so far.

Investors in Australia have seen bigger drops, as investors fret over its exposure to the Chinese economy. The ASX 200 is currently down 1.9 percent, with defence contractor and ship builder Austal down just under 17 percent to A$1.195 due to the departure of chief executive Andrew Bellamy. Energy stocks have seen large falls, with Beach Energy down 7.6 percent to 42.5 Australian cents and Origin Energy down 6.6 percent to A$4.145.

Chinese stocks opened lower, but have since recovered some of those losses, with the Shanghai Composite down 29 points, or 0.9 percent, at 3,157. The index is down almost 11 percent since the start of the year. The Shanghai and Shenzen CSI 300 composite is down 0.7 percent, or 25 points, at 3,336. It's down 10.5 percent since the turn of the year.

Grant Williamson from stock brokers Hamilton Hindin Greene said markets were being driven by the news from offshore.

"The volatility in Chinese markets is continuing and that means investors are sitting on the sidelines adopting a wait and watch approach. The NZX is benefiting because it's defensive, it's got a high dividend yield.We're not as reliant on commodity issues, but this is all about what's happening off-shore. It's not stock-specific.

"We have some nervous sellers, but the main problem is a lack of buyers. What we're seeing is a correction, similar to what we saw in the third quarter of last year, but this is still a bull market. You get this from time to time".

In Hong Kong, the Hang Seng is down 2.3 percent, while in Japan, the Nikkei 225 index is down 0.4 percent.

(BusinessDesk)

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