Most Asian markets fell Thursday after a pullback on Wall Street, with Japanese stocks tumbling to give back some gains recorded in the last two days, while an increase in gold prices limited losses for Australian shares.
Japan’s Nikkei 225 lopped off 297.22 points, or 2.1%, to 13,752.94
After being closed Wednesday for a storm, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index returned to trading, to lose 1.88 points to 22,539.25
Losses in Tokyo surfaced across several sectors, coming as the U.S. dollar straddled the ¥98-level.
Mitsubishi Motors Corp. slid 2.9%, Panasonic Corp. shed 3.2%, Fast Retailing Co. gave up 3.3%, Daiwa Securities Group Inc. lost 3.7%, and telecommunications major Softbank Corp. declined 3.3%.
In Sydney, gold miners climbed after the metal’s prices rose 1% overnight. Shares of Newcrest Mining Ltd. gained 1.3%, and Kingsgate Consolidated Ltd. advanced 3.1%.
Shares of AMP Ltd. picked up 3.5% after the firm said first-half underlying profit fell 9% but still came in above its projections made earlier.
In Hong Kong, a slew of blue-chips were in focus after reporting results.
Shares of personal-computer maker Lenovo Group Ltd. rose 2.1% following a 23% increase in its fiscal-first-quarter profit, and logistics firm Li & Fung soared 11.6% as investors cheered its outlook despite a sharp drop in half-yearly profits.
Internet major Tencent Holdings Ltd. fell 0.5% after its profits fell short of estimates.
In other markets;
Korean markets were closed for a holiday
The Shanghai Shenzhen CSI 300 subtracted 27.50 points, or 1.2%, to 2,321.58
Taiwan’s Taiex Index stumbled 64.07 points, or 0.8%, to 7,887.26
The Singapore Straits Times was down 27.74 points, or 0.9%, to 3,220.92
In New Zealand, the Exchange 50 Gross Index eked higher 5.67 points, or 0.1%, to 4,530.26
In Australia, the S&P/ASX 200 erased 5.05 points, or 0.1%, to 5,152.37
