Asian stocks saw a mixed day on Thursday with strong earnings in some quarters providing a welcome boost, while China’s property woes weighed in others.
The latest consumer prices data out of China also revived worries on the recovery of the world’s No2 economy but it was the country’s real estate sector which preoccupied most investors.
Shares of Chinese property giant Country Garden fell over 7% in volatile morning trade, giving up some of the previous day’s big gains on the back of a report that Beijing had asked Ping An Insurance Group to take a controlling stake in the embattled homebuilder.
Ping An subsequently said in a statement it had “not been asked by [the] Government to take over Country Garden”.
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That came on top of news China’s consumer prices had swung back into contraction and factory-gate deflation persisted in October as domestic demand struggled. The consumer price index (CPI) dropped 0.2% in October from a year earlier, faster than expected.
The blue-chip CSI 300 Index was up 0.05% while the Shanghai Composite Index edged up 0.03%, or 0.91 points, to 3,053.28. The Shenzhen Composite Index on China’s second exchange dropped 0.47%, or 8.95 points, to 1,911.89.
The Hang Seng Mainland Properties Index was down 4.16%, led by a decline in China Evergrande Group and CIFI Holdings shares. The benchmark Hang Seng Index lost 0.33%, or 57.17 points, to close at 17,511.29.
Japan’s Nikkei share average made strong gains though, snapping a two-day loss, as robust earnings helped propel energy and consumer-product shares.
The Nikkei closed up 1.49% at 32,646.46, recovering most of its 1.66% slide over the previous two sessions. Of the index’s 225 components, 169 rose versus 54 that fell, with two flat. The broader Topix added 1.26%.
Watch and calculator maker Casio was the Nikkei’s biggest percentage gainer, jumping almost 7% following positive financial results. Nintendo gained 5.57%, adding to a 6.09% surge the previous day, on the back of its own robust earnings projections and strong game sales.
Elsewhere across the region, in earlier trade, Sydney, Seoul, Singapore, Wellington, Taipei, Jakarta and Manila were all in the green but Mumbai and Bangkok fell.
MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan was up 0.1%, and is up 4.3% so far this month.
Oil Prices Slide
In early European trades, the pan-region Euro Stoxx 50 futures were up 0.1%, German DAX futures were down 0.05%, FTSE futures were down 0.16% at 7,401.5. US stock futures, the S&P 500 e-minis, were down 0.06% at 4,396.8.
The yield on benchmark 10-year Treasury notes reached 4.4902% compared with their US close of 4.508% on Wednesday. The two-year yield, which rises with traders’ expectations of higher Fed fund rates, touched 4.9277% compared with a US close of 4.936%.
The dollar dropped 0.03% against the yen to 150.93. It is moving back towards its high this year of 151.74 on October 31.
The dollar has rebounded from last week’s sharp sell-off on rising confidence the Fed has ended raising rates. There is less agreement on whether a rate cut is on the horizon with inflation still above the US Federal Reserve’s 2% target.
Oil prices slid over 2% on Wednesday to their lowest in more than three months on concerns over waning demand in the US and China. In Asian trading Thursday, US crude ticked up 0.15% to $75.44 a barrel. Brent crude rose to $79.68 per barrel.
Gold was slightly lower. Spot gold was traded at $1948.9332 per ounce.
Key figures
Tokyo – Nikkei 225 > UP 1.49% at 32,646.46 (close)
Hong Kong – Hang Seng Index < DOWN 0.33% at 17,511.29 (close)
Shanghai – Composite > UP 0.03% at 3,053.28 (close)
London – FTSE 100 < DOWN 0.13% at 7,391.97 (0936 GMT)
New York – Dow < DOWN 0.12% at 34,112.27 (Wednesday close)
- Reuters with additional editing by Sean O’Meara
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