ASIA MARKETS: Asian Shares Mixed; Hong Kong Up On Low China Inflation

By Chao Deng

Shares in Asia were mixed Wednesday, with stocks in the Philippines bouncing from recent losses and the Hong Kong market up as signs of low inflation in China fueled hope of more easing measures to help the domestic economy.

The Philippines PSEi was up 0.8%, although it is still down 2.4% so far this week with investors concerned that stocks have gotten expensive there. The market suffered heavy losses earlier this week as it got caught in worries about the pace of global economic growth and anticipated tightening of the U.S. Federal Reserve's monetary policy.

The Hang Seng Index was up 0.3% after data showed China's consumer price inflation hitting a four-year low in September. The gauge rose 1.6% year-over-year during the month, the smallest increase since January 2010.

"The read is actually quite low and less than half the upper limit of the target that the government had set for this year," says Dariusz Kowalczyk, senior economist at Crédit Agricole. "Global inflationary pressures are spreading to China. The low inflation reading will open the door for them to implement some targeted monetary and fiscal easing."

Still, investors on the mainland were apprehensive, sending the Shanghai Composite Index 0.4% lower.

Stocks in Australia were up 0.4%, helped by miners' gains. BHP Billiton and Rio Tinto were both up 0.8%, amid recent strength in the iron-ore market. Earlier this week, iron-ore prices saw their biggest one-day percentage gain in months, although prices have eased since Monday. The spot price for the steelmaking commodity was last unchanged from Tuesday at US$83.10 a ton.

Analysts at RBC Capital Markets say the expansion of Rio Tinto's iron-ore operations are on track even though third-quarter production numbers fell short of expectations.

Tokyo remained near a two-month low as investors hunted for bargains. The Nikkei Stock Average was about flat, following five-session losing streak, as the dollar (USDJPY) traded at Yen107.26, a touch above Yen107.06 late Tuesday in New York. The index sank 2.4% Tuesday to lowest since August.

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