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Hong Kong - Oil prices resumed their downward spiral in Asia on Thursday after rallying in the previous session on bargain-buying, while the dollar recovered after plunging in New York in reaction to disappointing US retail sales data.
Most regional markets enjoyed a pick-up following recent losses, with Mumbai boosted by a surprise interest rate cut by the Reserve Bank of India and Tokyo boosted by a weaker yen.
Shanghai and Hong Kong was also supported by speculation Chinese leaders are taking measures to increase liquidity in financial markets in a bid to boost lending.
Crude enjoyed a rare 5% rally on Wednesday after plunging close to six-year lows, with analysts saying a pick-up had been expected after the commodity had crashed more than 50% since June.
"Just so much of the bearish news has been priced in, it's just overdue for a correction," said John Kilduff, founding partner at hedge fund Again Capital.
However, the two main contracts retreated again Thursday as dealers digested news that US stockpiles had risen, adding to long-running concerns about a supply glut and weak demand.
US benchmark West Texas Intermediate for February delivery lost 44 cents to $48.04 and Brent fell 59c to $48.10.
In share trading Tokyo rose 1.84% to end at 17 108.70 as the dollar recovered against the yen after taking a hit in New York, while Shanghai surged 3.54% to end at 3 336.46.
Seoul was marginally higher, adding 0.48 points to close at 1 914.14 but Sydney lost 0.41% to finish at 5 331.4.
In late trade Hong Kong was 0.53% up and Mumbai added 2.30%.
Regional traders were given a negative lead from Wall Street, where the losses in crude mixed with figures showing a surprise 0.9% fall in US retail sales in December.
The Dow fell 1.06%, the S&P 500 shed 0.58% and the Nasdaq lost 0.48% - marking a fourth-straight day of losses for US markets.
Adding to the downbeat sentiment was news that the World Bank had cut its growth forecast for the global economy, saying a US recovery was not enough to drag up other economies.
There was some good news, however, with the Federal Reserve saying in its Beige Book report that the US economy kept up "modest" or "moderate" growth in recent weeks.
On currency markets the dollar climbed after being hammered Wednesday in response to the poor retail sales figures, which could force the Fed to rethink its plan to hike interest rates by the middle of the year.
The dollar bought ¥117.73 in Tokyo on Thursday, up from ¥117.39 late in New York, where at one point it hit a low of ¥116.08.
The euro bought $1.1770 and ¥138.57 on Thursday against $1.1782 and ¥138.30 in US trade.
In Mumbai traders welcomed the Reserve Bank of India's decision to cut interest rates 25 basis points to 7.75%.
Bank governor Raghuram Rajan said the bank was confident of cutting rates because local food and global oil prices have brought stubborn inflation under control in recent months.
Shanghai stocks, which bolted more than 50% last year on hopes for government stimulus measures, resumed their rally Thursday on talk that Beijing will pump more cash into the market.
"There are expectations for ample liquidity after news that the central bank is widening the definition of deposits," Zhang Yanbing, a strategist at Zheshang Securities in Shanghai, told Bloomberg News. Zhang added there was also talk of a cut in the amount of cash banks must keep in reserve.
Gold was $1 227.96 an ounce, compared with $1 238.84 on Tuesday.
In other markets:
- Taipei eased 0.16% to 9 165.09.
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing closed 1.15% higher at w$131.5 while Hon Hai Precision dropped 0.59% to Tw$84.8.
- Wellington fell 0.12% to 5 642.05.
Fletcher Building was down 0.72% at NZ$8.24 and Contact Energy added 1.08% to NZ$6.57.
- Manila was closed for a public holiday during the Pope's visit to the Philippines.
