Asia: Stocks mixed China-fuelled rally

[HONG KONG] Asian markets were mixed on profit-taking Tuesday after a Chinese rate cut fuelled a rally in the previous session, while Tokyo played catch-up following a long weekend.

The euro was treading water after getting a lift on Monday from data showing German business confidence rose in November for the first time in seven months.

Tokyo rose 0.34 per cent after a long weekend, while Seoul was flat and Sydney lost 0.76 per cent. Hong Kong slipped 0.27 per cent and Shanghai added 0.24 per cent.

Traders largely took their foot off the pedal after Monday's surge that came on the back of China's surprise decision last week to slash interest rates for the first time in two years in a bid to kickstart growth in the Asian economic powerhouse.

"The positive market hit from Friday's stimulus measures coming out of China looks to be very short lived," brokerage IG said, according to Dow Jones Newswires.

The latest losses came despite another record close on Wall Street, where attention is now on the release of US third-quarter growth figures as well as data on consumer confidence, home prices and business activity.

The Dow edged up 0.04 per cent to its third straight record close and the S&P 500 gained 0.29 per cent, also an all-time high. The Nasdaq tacked on 0.89 per cent.

In foreign exchange markets the euro bought US$1.2431 and 147.19 yen, compared with US$1.2439 and 147.10 yen in New York.

However, the single currency is up from levels seen earlier Monday in Asia after the Ifo index of German business confidence rose this month, providing some welcome news from the eurozone's biggest economy which has shown signs of struggling recently.

"The downturn in the German economy has ground to a halt for the moment at least," Ifo chief Hans-Werner Sinn said in a statement.

In other forex trade the dollar was at 118.38 yen, up from 118.25 yen in US trade.

Oil was lower ahead of a closely watched meeting of the OPEC cartel, which will decide whether or not to cut output to prevent prices falling further. US benchmark West Texas Intermediate for January delivery was down 16 cents to US$75.62 while Brent crude for January fell 27 cents to US$79.41.

Gold was at US$1,196.80 an ounce, compared with US$1,195.75 late Monday.

AFP