Asia-Pacific stock markets were mixed in early trading Friday.
Further declines in Chinese and Hong Kong stocks were joined by modest drops in Southeast Asian benchmarks, which barely rose Thursday. Korea’s Kospi continued to move little after Thursday’s outperformance while more-robust gains persisted in Japan, Australia, Taiwan and New Zealand.
Down Under led the gainers, with Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 XJO, +0.80% up 0.8% at midday amid strength in commodities and consumer-discretionary names. BHP Billiton BHP, +2.01% rose more than 2% after agreeing to sell the bulk of its U.S. oil and gas assets to BP for $10.5 billion, and Oil Search OSH, +1.78% rose almost as much. New Zealand’s NZX-50 NZ50GR, +0.32% added 0.3%.
Japan’s NIkkei NIK, +0.22% nudged slightly higher despite Nomura 8604, -5.97% plunging almost 6% after it reported disappointing quarterly profits. South Korea’s Kospi SEU, +0.11% was about flat, as Samsung Electronics 005930, -0.43% slipped slightly.
Stocks in China largely fell, with the Shanghai Composite SHCOMP, +0.12% about flat while the Shanzhen Composite 399106, -0.13% dipped 0.3%.
Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index HSI, -0.03% dropped 0.2% as Tencent 0700, -0.53% and China Contruction Bank 0939, -0.70% each fell almost 1% and automaker Geely 0175, -3.26% slid 3%.
Taiwan’s Taiex Y9999, +0.45% rose as Taiwan Semiconductor 2330, +1.24% rose 1%, while Singapore’s Strait Times index STI, -0.23% dipped.
