Major indices in Asia and Oceania followed a mixed trend in Wednesday’s session (17/7), with Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 hitting an all-time high.
The index gained more than 1% to surpass a previous record high of 8,037.30, as gold miners Northern Star Resources and Bellevue Gold gained more than 4.55% and nearly 4%, respectively. Evolution Mining and Newmont Corporation rose more than 2%.
Overall, the Reuters Tankan survey shows an increase in business optimism among Japan’s major manufacturers.
The manufacturing index is at +11, up from +6 last month. However, confidence among non-manufacturers fell from +31 to +26.
Meanwhile, Japanese authorities are expected to intervene in the foreign exchange market on Thursday and Friday, spending a total of 6 trillion yen ($37.9 billion) in the two days, according to Reuters.
The yen is currently at 158.36 against the US dollar. The currency fell to 161.82 on Wednesday before strengthening to 157.41 the next day.
Taiwan’s index fell 0.77 percent after a report that Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump lacked that Taiwan should pay the US for defense.
“I know these people very well, I respect them very much. They take about 100% of our chip business. I think Taiwan should pay us for defense,” Trump said in an interview with Bloomberg. Businessweek in June published on Tuesday.
Taiwan’s Prime Minister Cho Yong-tai said Taiwan wants to be “more responsible” for its defense and continues to increase its spending, Reuters reported.
Shares of Taiwanese chipmaker TSMC fell 2.36%.
Singapore’s non-oil domestic exports fell more than expected in June, posting the fifth consecutive monthly decline. They fell 8.7 percent year-on-year compared to a 1.2 percent decline expected by economists polled by Reuters.
On a monthly basis, Singapore’s domestic non-oil market unexpectedly fell 0.4%, compared to expectations for a 4.1% increase.
In this context, the Japanese Nikkei fell 0.31% to close at 41,153 points, while Hong Kong’s Hang Seng rose 0.06% to 17,749 points.
In mainland China, the Shanghai Composite fell 0.34% to 2,965.81, with the Shenzhen Component down 0.32% to 8,848.69.