Asian stocks were little changed, erasing earlier losses, as Chinese shares rose.
Japan’s Nikkei 225 index dropped 47.86 points, or 0.3%, to 14,923.11
The Hang Seng Index in Hong Kong ballooned 390.74 points, or 1.7%, to 22,828.18.
Mitsubishi Estate Co. sank 3.1% in Tokyo. to 2,420 yen. Sumitomo Realty & Development Co. declined 3% to 4,141 yen.
Tencent jumped 5.2%, contributing the most to the Hang Seng Index’s advance. Qantas lost 9.1% in Sydney, the biggest decline since Dec. 5, after Australia’s largest airline said it will cut 5,000 jobs and defer new jets.
Qantas will defer delivery of three Boeing Co. 787-8 Dreamliners and eight Airbus Group NV A380s, freeze all group pay until the company returns to profit and cut more than one in seven of its full-time equivalent jobs by 2017, the company said today as it posted a A$252-million loss.
Chief Executive Officer Alan Joyce argues the 93-year-old airline can’t compete in a domestic price war with Virgin Australia Holdings Ltd., whose three biggest shareholders are state-controlled foreign airlines.
Capital spending in Australia slumped 5.2% in the three months ended December from the previous period, when it climbed 3.6%, the statistics bureau said today. That compares with the median estimate for a 1.3% slide by economists before the report.
SK Holdings Co. surged 6.1% to 192,000 won in Seoul, to a three-month high, after the South Korean industrial conglomerate announced a share buyback plan.
CHINA
The Shanghai CSI 300 Index slid 9.30 points, or 0.4%, to 2,154.11, as China Petroleum & Chemical Corp. and technology companies rallied.
Forwards in China’s yuan traded within 0.2% of the weakest level since November today after the central bank reduced the onshore currency’s daily fixing.
In other markets;
Taiwan’s Taiex Index added 38.72 points, or 0.5%, to 8,639.58
Singapore’s Straits Times Index added 8.49 points, or 0.3%, to 3,096.74
Korea’s Kospi Index gained 7.66 points, or 0.4%, to 1,978.43
The New Zealand Exchange 50 index lopped off 8.86 points, or 0.2%, to 4,964.34
In Australia, the S&P/ASX 200 fell 25.55 points, or 0.5%, to 5,411.45
