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UPDATE:Asian Shrs Mixed; CapitaMalls Solid On Singapore Debut

(Adds information, quotes, updates/adds market levels)

By Colin Ng and Philip Vahn

Of DOW JONES NEWSWIRES

SINGAPORE (Dow Jones)--Asian share markets were mixed Wednesday but CapitaMalls Asia received plenty of attention in Singapore as the shopping mall concern made a strong debut after the island state's biggest initial public offering since 1993.

Japan's Nikkei 225 was up 0.1% with Australia's S&P/ASX 200 up 0.2% and South Korea's Kospi Composite down 0.3%. Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index lost 0.2% while Taiwan's main index was up 0.3% and Singapore's Straits Times Index flat. Dow Jones Industrial Average futures were 4 points higher in screen trade.

"We might be starting to see the gradual slowdown (in markets) as we get closer to Christmas. After the volatility we have seen through 2009, people will be quite happy to put that behind us and look forward to 2010," said Hamilton Hindin Greene broker James Smalley in Christchurch.

Traders were also keeping a cautious watch on Chinese markets after Monday's sharp drop on a call by China's main banking regulator for China's lenders to strictly comply with capital requirements or face sanctions. The Shanghai Composite index was down 0.5%.

"We all know Beijing needs an exit strategy for this year's expansion in new yuan loans, but we don't know when this will happen," said Central China Securities analyst Zhang Gang.

IG Markets institutional dealer Chris Weston in Sydney said: "Ultimately these are preemptive measures (by China), which are good for the longer term because they lessen the chance of a serious bubble in China."

Debutante CapitaMalls Asia stole the show in Singapore as the Asian mall business of property developer CapitaLand gained 6.1% to trade at S$2.25, compared with the initial public offering price of S$2.12.

The company raised S$2.8 billion and the IPO is the largest in Singapore since national communications carrier Singapore Telecommunications Ltd. listed in 1993.

"The IPO has, in our view, unleashed a pan-Asia retail mall behemoth with strong debt and capital market capacity to execute asset recycling," said Donald Chua of CIMB in Singapore.

Australian stocks were a bit oversold on the Lloyds Bank rights issue Tuesday; "Traders sold ahead of the Lloyds share issue and bought some back today," said UBS head of sales George Kanaan.

National Australia Bank was up 1.0%, ANZ Bank added 0.5% while BHP Billiton gained 1.7% on hopes of a share buyback.

The Japanese stock market failed to push ahead despite some bargain hunting early on after the market's five-session losing streak. Condominium-related companies were sharply lower after the Nikkei reported that unlisted major developer Anabuki Construction has filed for bankruptcy protection. Daikyo lost 2.9% following the report with the real estate subindex down 2.1%.

Korean banks were weighing on the Kospi Composite as institutions continued to reshuffle their portfolios, lightening positions on some large-cap banks after adding Woori Finance via a block sale Tuesday. Woori Finance was down 1.0% while KB Financial was down 2.7% and Hana Financial lost 2.4%.

Flat-panel plays were leading gains in Taiwan on anticipation of growing sales of flat-screen TVs ahead of the Christmas holiday season. AU Optronics gained 1.6% while rival Chi Mei jumped 3.7%.

New Zealand's NZX-50 was 0.4% higher while Malaysian shares fell 0.1%, Philippine shares were down 0.7% and Thai shares up 1.0%.

In foreign exchange markets, the U.S. dollar traded in a tight range against the yen and the euro. The dollar was at Y88.33, slightly lower from late New York trade Tuesday, while the euro was at $1.4979 from $1.4965 and Y132.35 from Y132.49.

Investors were focussed on U.S. data due later in the global day. A Dow Jones Newswire poll of economists tipped October's durable goods orders to rise 0.5% from 1.4% previously, while the Reuters/University of Michigan consumer confidence index for November was expected at 66.8 from 70.6 the previous month.

Japanese government bond futures were rising, tracking gains for U.S. Treasurys Tuesday. The lead December JGB futures contract was up 0.16 at 139.60 points. The benchmark 10-year cash JGB was down 1 basis point at 1.280%.

Spot gold touched a record high of $1,175.80 per troy ounce, up $7.60 from the New York close. "In the run-up to Thanksgiving it would appear the desire to lock in profit is still not greater than that to accumulate new long positions," said Barlcays Capital in a research note.

January Nymex crude oil was trading 12 cents lower at 75.90 per barrel, after settling down $1.54 Tuesday.

-Colin Ng, Dow Jones Newswires; +65-6415-4140; colin.ng@dowjones.com

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(END) Dow Jones Newswires

November 24, 2009 23:02 ET (04:02 GMT)


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