After a roller-coaster October, Asian stock markets largely started November with widespread gains with only Japan as the notable exception.
The Nikkei NIK, -1.06% closed down nearly 1.1% amid caution over U.S. trade policies and the upcoming U.S. midterm elections. The telecom sector fell some 6%, by far the worst among 33 Topix sectors, after NTT DoCoMo said it would cut mobile service charges. Shares in NTT DoCoMo 9437, -14.71% were down 14% while fellow telecom KDDI 9433, -16.15% dropped 16% and SoftBank Group 9984, -8.16% sank 8.1%. Panasonic 6752, -5.64% was also sharply down.
Meanwhile, Chinese stocks surged Thursday, with Hong Kong‘s Hang Seng Index HSI, +1.75% jumping 1.8%. Apple Inc. AAPL, +2.61% suppliers Sunny Optical 2382, +7.35% and AAC Tech 2018, +7.88% rose 7.3% and 7.8%, respectively, a day after Apple unveiled new computers and iPads. Country Garden 2007, +9.18% and China Overseas Land 0688, +4.68% rose 9.2% and 4.7%, respectively, after what UOB Kay Hian analyst Ivan Ip called an upbeat assessment on mainland China’s construction recovery from Wednesday’s PMI reading. Among the losers, CLP Holdings 0002, -1.25% was down 1.3% and Power Assets 0006, -1.34% slipped 1.3%.
Mainland China benchmarks continued slightly higher, as the latest Politburo meeting called for “healthy development” of the capital market. The Shanghai Composite SHCOMP, +0.13% ticked up 0.1%. The smaller-cap Shenzhen Composite 399106, +0.93% was up 0.9%, following its seventh straight monthly decline. Some AI-related names popped, boosted by President Xi Jinping’s pep talk, while infrastructure stocks outperformed the boarder market.
Australia’s ASX 200 XJO, +0.18% rose 0.2%, as BHP Billiton BHP, +2.79% rose after announcing a plan to give $10.4 billion from its shale sale to investors via an equally split buyback and special dividend. Stocks in New Zealand NZ50GR, +1.05% rose as well.
Taiwan’s Taiex Y9999, +0.43% gained 0.4% despite fears that the country’s economic slowdown could be worse than it seems, after third-quarter GDP grew 2.28% year-over-year, slower than the previous quarter’s 3.3% expansion. Benchmark indexes in South Korea SEU, -0.26% , Singapore STI, +1.39% and Malaysia FBMKLCI, -0.14% all posted solid gains.
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