Asian markets closed mostly lower after trading sideways for most of Tuesday, despite major Wall Street indexes closing in the green, as news of a deadly bombing at a concert venue in Manchester weighed sentiment.
The Nikkei 225 dropped 65 points, or 0.3%, to 19,613.28,
Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index nosed up 11.81 points, or 0.2%, to 25,174.87
HNA Group is negotiating a stake in Hong Kong-listed Value Partners Group, an asset management company. Shares of Value Partners were down 4.8%
Cathay Pacific denied a report from the South China Morning Post that the airline would cut 200 more jobs than the original 600 it said it would cut on Monday.
Cathay shares were softer, trading down by 1.2% late afternoon Tuesday
In Singapore, trade of Noble Group was halted after the company’s shares fell almost 32%. Shares of the company sank after S&P Global Ratings downgraded the commodity trader's credit rating to CCC-plus. Media reports also circulated that Sinochem had decided to stop pursuing a stake in the company due to Noble's shaky outlook.
In economic news, Singapore CPI data for the month of April increased by 0.4% on year, compared with the 0.7% forecast. The lower-than-expected inflation figures were attributed in part to declining rents.
Monday, 22 people were reported dead following a blast at the Manchester Arena in northern England where U.S. singer Ariana Grande had been performing. The U.K. police are treating the blast as a terrorism incident.
The safe-haven yen climbed after news of the bombing. The U.S. dollar was fetching as little as 110.84 yen, down from around 111.34 yen earlier. In the late afternoon in Asia, the dollar was fetching 111.02 yen.
In other markets
Shanghai’s CSI 300 gained 12.95 points, or 0.4%, to 3,424.19
In Taiwan, the Taiex Index recovered 10.58 points, or 0.1%, to 10.007.84
In Korea, the Kospi index inched up 7.71 points, or 0.3%, to 2,311.74
In Singapore, the Straits Times Index gained 9.12 points, or 0.3%, to 3,222.69
In New Zealand, the NZX 50 stepped back 24.79 points, or 0.3%, to 7,384.71
In Australia, the ASX 200 let go of 11.01 points, or 0.2%, to 5,760.19
