Asian stock markets were mixed Thursday following overnight declines in U.S. stock prices and Treasury yields.
The Nikkei NIK, -0.20% was down 0.2%, with electronics and financials leading the way lower. Panasonic 6752, -1.10% was down 1%, hitting fresh two-year lows, while Mitsubishi UFJ Financial 8306, -3.16% and Resona 8308, -2.94% fell some 3%, as did SoftBank 9984, -2.70% . Toshiba 6502, +3.65% , however, was up nearly 3.7% at another two-year high following its latest stock-buyback announcement.
Chinese stock benchmarks turned solidly higher, continuing recent outperformance, with sentiment continuing to be helped by planned and possible government action to shore up the economy. The Shanghai Composite SHCOMP, +1.36% was up 1.3% and the smaller-cap Shenzhen Composite 399106, +1.45% was 1.4% higher. Oil names rebounded somewhat after a bounce overnight in oil LCOF9, +0.41% prices.
Hong Kong stocks swung back and forth, and the Hang Seng Index HSI, +1.75% was last up 1.7%, thanks to Tencent’s 0700, +5.80% post-earnings jump. Chinese oil major Cnooc 0883, +2.05% rebounded 2% as crude ticked up overnight. But financials remained under pressure.
Australian stocks XJO, +0.06% fell initially but scratched out a less than 0.1% closing gain, as financials remained a drag on the broader index. Commonwealth Bank CBA, -0.51% fell 0.5% and Westpac WBC, -0.43% eased 0.4%, both off deeper earlier losses. New Zealand’s benchmark NZ50GR, -0.02% was down slightly.
South Korea’s Kospi SEU, +0.97% was up about 1%, while indexes in Singapore STI, +0.37% and Taiwan Y9999, +0.35% were about flat.
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