Australia Leads Asian Shares Lower; China Shares Gain Slightly

By Chao Deng 

        Shares in Asia fell, with Australian banks weighing on that market for the second-straight day, as investors elsewhere look to the Bank of Japan's policy meeting.
        The S&P ASX 200 was off 1.7%, the Nikkei Stock Average fell 0.3% and South Korea's Kospi lost 0.5%. The losses follow a slump in U.S. shares overnight after a raft of disappointing earnings from media companies.
        In China, investors are weighing the prospects of consistent government support for the market against worries that traders might withdraw to subscribe for new shares. That follows reports Thursday that China's stock regulator might start approving firms' share-placement applications as early as this Friday.
        The Shanghai Composite Index opened 0.9% higher at 3692.61 and is flat week-to-date. The smaller Shenzhen Composite rose 0.9% to 2132.34.
        Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index is up 0.3% and a gauge of Chinese companies listed in the city is up 0.6%.
        In Australia, a gauge of financial-sector stocks was down 2%, on expectations that big banks will announce further capital raising. Commonwealth Bank of Australia was 1.6% lower, National Australia Bank Ltd. was down 1.7% and Westpac Banking Corp. was 2.2% lower. The losses in banking shares are have helped push Australia's broader market down 3.3% so far this week.
        Shares of Australia and New Zealand Banking Group are down 6.9% after the firm announced a $3 billion capital raising. That announcement turned attention to the other members of the big four banks, which will need to get in line with regulators' call for big banks to increase the level of capital held against potential home-loan losses.
        Investors in Australia also will assess a statement from the Reserve Bank of Australia's monetary-policy meeting later Friday for growth and inflation forecasts.
        Australia's energy stocks are also weaker following an overnight drop in oil prices, although Brent crude, the global oil benchmark, was last up 0.2% at $49.66 in Asia trade.
        In Japan, investors are awaiting a Bank of Japan meeting that may offer clues about its quantitative-easing program.
        "What's important is how Gov. (Haruhiko) Kuroda is going to explain the lower crude oil prices as it relates to policy plans" says Eiji Kinouchi, senior strategist at Daiwa Securities. Japan is still a long way off from hitting its inflation target of 2% by the middle of 2016.
        The Japanese yen traded around 124.69 against the U.S. dollar ahead of U.S. jobs data later Friday. It traded at 124.73 late in Asia Thursday.
        Gold is trading 0.2% lower at $1,088.40 a troy ounce in Asia.
        Write to Chao Deng at Chao.Deng@wsj.com
        (END) Dow Jones Newswires

        August 06, 2015 22:19 ET (02:19 GMT)

#WestpackBankingCorp
#AustraliaBankLtd
#HangSengIndex