Asia-Pacific stock markets traded mixed Wednesday, breaking ranks from Wall Street losses, after the World Bank raised the region’s growth forecast Tuesday.
In Japan, the Nikkei 225 index collapsed 215.89 points, or 0.5%, to 47,734.99.
The Japanese yen weakened 0.38% to 152.48 against the greenback after sliding to the 150-level Monday.
In Hong Kong, the Hang Seng index returned from holiday to lose 128.31 points, or 0.5%. to 26,829.46.
CF PharmTech shares surged over 224% in their Hong Kong trading debut during early trade. CF PharmTech is a specialty pharmaceutical company, focused especially on respiratory diseases. It was trading 174% higher as of 3.24 a.m. ET.
CF PharmTech had raised around $78 million, with shares priced at HKD$14.75 apiece. PharmTech’s listing comes amid a resurgence in Hong Kong’s IPO market this year that has collectively raised about $14.1 billion in the first half of this year.
Chinese and South Korean markets are closed for holidays.
The Reserve Bank of New Zealand trimmed its benchmark interest rate by 50 basis points to 2.5%.
In other markets
In Taiwan, the Taiex index dipped 148.27 points, or 0.5%, to 27.063.68
In Singapore, the Straits Times Index lost 50.55 points, or 0.4%, to 4,456.30
In New Zealand, the NZX 50 gained 37.19 points, or 0.3%, to 13,568.48.
In Australia, the ASX 200 dropped 9.19 points, or 0.1%, to 8,947.62
