Real estate stocks in Hong Kong dropped as Asia-Pacific markets traded mixed on Wednesday. Australia’s inflation rose and investors looked forward to the Fed’s policy decision.
In Japan, the Nikkei 225 recaptured 60.54 points, or 0.2%, to 27,715.75.
The Japanese yen weakened to 136.92 per U.S. dollar.
In Hong Kong, the Hang Seng index descended 235.84 points, or 1.1%, to 20,670.04.
Heavyweight Alibaba dropped 3.26% after popping Tuesday after it announced plans for a dual primary listing in Hong Kong.
Property firm Country Garden’s stock plunged 15.1% after it said it would raise 2.8 billion Hong Kong dollars ($360 million U.S.) by selling 870 million new shares.
The shares were priced at 3.25 Hong Kong dollars, around a 12.63% discount to Country Garden’s Tuesday close.
In corporate news, chipmaker SK Hynix reported 56% growth in operating profit to 4.2 trillion Korean won ($3.2 billion) in the second quarter of 2022 compared to a year ago. Revenue jumped 34% to 13.8 trillion won, helped by the “continued rise of the U.S. dollar,” the company said in a statement.
But SK Hynix predicted that memory demand would slow in the second half of the year because shipments of PCs and smartphones are expected to be lower than initial forecasts.
The company’s stock closed 0.5% lower.
Prices in Australia rose 6.1% in the second quarter compared to the same period a year ago, up from 5.1% in the first quarter of the year. Economists polled by Reuters saw inflation hitting 6.2%.
The Australian dollar weakened to $0.6927 after the inflation print was reported.
In other markets
In Shanghai, the CSI 300 dropped 20.94 points, or 0.5%, to 4,225.04.
In Taiwan, the Taiex resurfaced 114.81 points, or 0.8%, to 14,921.59.
In Singapore, the Straits Times Index climbed 13.02 points, or 0.4%, to 3,205.14
In Korea, the Kospi nicked up 2.57 points, or 0.1%, to 2,415.53
In Australia, the ASX 200 added 15.96 points, or 0.2%, to 6,823.23
In New Zealand, the NZX doffed 31.53 points, or 0.3%, to 11,135.03.
