Asian shares ended modestly lower on Wednesday, with weaker steel makers a drag on Shanghai, while Japanese stocks were supported by deal speculation.
In Japan, the Nikkei 225 Index regained 36.52 points, or 0.4%, to 9,069.81
The Hang Seng Index in Hong Kong slipped 23.29 points, or 0.1%, to 19,788.51
Hong Kong-listed shares of of Aluminum Corp. fell 1.9%, while Angang Steel lost 1.3% and Jiangxi Copper dropped 5.1%.
Deal speculation provided some impetus in Japan on Wednesday, after shares of Renesas Electronics Corp. surged 35% following a Nikkei report that U.S. investment house KKR & Co. is planning to take control of the struggling chip maker.
Sharp Corp. rose 7%%, getting support from a Kyodo News report that Taiwan’s Hon Hai Precision Industry Co. would finalize its investment in the company this week.
Hon Hai also helped move shares of NEC Corp., which jumped 7.5% after Hon Hai chief Terry Gou reportedly said his company had a deal to purchase some patents from the Japanese firm.
Hon Hai’s own shares edged down 0.2% in Taipei.
South Korean technology firms were trading higher on Wednesday as well, with Samsung Electronics Co., up 3.2% as the firm’s shares recouped more of the losses made after Apple Inc’s patent win late last week. LG Electronics Inc. moved ahead by 4.7%.
Chinese investors retained a focus on earnings, with China Life Insurance Co. rising 2% in Hong Kong after posting a 26% first-half profit drop but a 2.5% rise in new business value.
Exporters, which had risen earlier in the session, came under pressure later in the day, with Lenovo Group Ltd. endign flat and Esprit Holdings Ltd. easing 1.1%.
Mainland Chinese property-focused companies also lost ground in Hong Kong trading, with Evergrande Real Estate Group Ltd. retreating by 3.1% after the property group reported that its first-half core earnings fell 21%.
A fresh drop in iron-ore prices to just under $95 U.S. a ton on Wednesday sent the Australian mining sector lower.
Iron-ore producer Fortescue Metals Group Ltd. fell 6.4% while diversified producer Rio Tinto Ltd. moved 2.3% lower.
Among other movers, Daikin Industries Ltd. fell 3.5% in Tokyo as the firm said it had reached a deal to buy air-conditioner maker Goodman Global Inc. from private-equity firm Hellman & Friedman LLC, with reports putting the price at about $3.7 billion U.S.
CHINA
In China, weakness was centered among companies that rose in the prior session after a repurchase announcement by Baoshan Iron & Steel
Shanghai’s CSI 300 index subtracted 23.60 points, or 1.1%, to 2,214.81
Wuhan Iron & Steel Co. fell 1.6% and Baoshan Iron & Steel ended down 2.7%.
China’s official Xinhua news agency reported Wednesday that China’s top economic planner said the country will need to work to prevent house prices from rebounding this year and causing a price bubble.
Other mainland property plays losing ground included China Resources Land Ltd., shares of which dropped 0.8%.
In other markets
Korea’s Kospi index took on 12.21 points, or 0.6%, to 1,928.54
The Singapore Straits Times Index added 1.5 points to 3,041.57
Taiwan’s Taiex Index recovered 29.21 points, or 0.4%, to 7,391.15
New Zealand’s NZX index erased 0.66 points to 3,628.39
Australia’s ASX Index docked 2.93 points to 4,356.45
