By Mia Lamar
Stocks in Sydney were a surprising standout on Wednesday --
outperforming the rest of the region despite a fourth-straight
session of losses on Wall Street.
The S&P/ASX 200 rose 0.8% -- catching traders off guard as
many had predicted cautious trade. High-end retailer David Jones
Ltd. was the biggest gainer on the ASX, jumping 5% following the
company's full-year earnings report.
"It isn't often that you see a bottom-up story move a market,
but appears that the numbers have boosted the consumer space," said
Chris Weston, chief market strategist at IG in Melbourne.
Trading was more subdued elsewhere in Asia as concern that U.S.
lawmakers will fail to arrange a budget deal preventing a
government shutdown next week weighed on sentiment. The Dow Jones
Industrial Average (DJI) fell 0.4% overnight and the S&P 500
index (SPX) closed down 0.3%.
"The potential of a 2011-type fallout is burning red hot in the
minds of investors," said Gavin Parry, managing director at Parry
International Trading in Hong Kong. A protracted Washington budget
battle in 2011 resulted in an unprecedented downgrade of U.S.
government debt and jolted financial markets around the world.
Deal making was also on traders' minds in Tokyo following Tokyo
Electron Ltd.'s (TOELY) agreement to sell itself to U.S.-based
Applied Materials Inc. The all-stock deal announced late on Tuesday
values Tokyo Electron at $9.3 billion. Shares of the chip
manufacturer opened up 14% in Tokyo, hitting a trading limit.
Japan's Nikkei 225 Stock Average slipped 0.2% as the yen
(USDJPY) firmed. The Japanese currency was changing hands at 98.63
yen for one U.S. dollar versus Yen98.74 late Tuesday in New
York.
Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index edged 0.4% higher while China's
Shanghai Composite fell 0.3%.
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