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Asian markets were mixed on Wednesday despite record closing highs on Wall Street, with Tokyo stocks ticking higher after the government delayed a planned sales tax hike as Japan tipped back into recession.
Hong Kong slipped 0.32 per cent, Sydney dipped 0.36 per cent and Seoul was down 0.24 per cent while Shanghai traded flat.
But Tokyo gained 0.23 per cent after Prime Minister Shinzo Abe on Tuesday called for early elections to seek a mandate for delaying next year's sales tax increase and his economic policies.
MALAYSIA share prices opened flat on Wednesday with the FTSE Bursa Malaysia Kuala Lumpur Composite Index up 0.52 points to 1818.00.
Volume was 42.3 million lots worth RM16.48 million.
Gainers outnumbered losers 118 to 36.
Crude-oil futures were lower in Asian trade Tuesday with investors largely uncertain about the outcome of the meeting of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries next week.
On the New York Mercantile Exchange, light, sweet crude futures for delivery in December CLZ4, +0.01% traded at $75.34 a barrel, down $0.30 in the Globex electronic session. January Brent crude LCOF5, -0.10% on London’s ICE Futures exchange fell $0.35 to $78.96 a barrel.
January platinum PLF5, +0.32% added 90 cents to $1,202.20 an ounce, while December palladium PAZ4, +0.23% shed 30 cents to $768.40 an ounce.
High-grade copper for December delivery HGZ4, -0.08% lost a penny to $3.03 a pound.
Equities have been caught in a tight trading range over the past week, and that’s just fine for gold, which rose on Tuesday for the third time in four sessions.
Gold for December delivery GCZ4, +0.68% advanced $2.40 to $1,185.90 an ounce. December silver SIZ4, +0.92% tacked on 2 cents to $16.08 an ounce.
A day earlier, gold prices failed to defend back-to-back gains, feeling the weight of declining institutional demand for the precious metal.
