Asian shares ended mixed Thursday as Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke's downbeat assessment of the U.S. economic outlook spooked investors, sending Japanese stocks lower for a fifth straight session.
Japan’s Nikkei 225 Index fell another 57.95 points, or 0.6%, to 9,20.88
Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index continued on the march, gaining 102.47 points, or 0.5%, to 20,589.70
Exporters were hit in Tokyo by a stronger yen as investors bought into the safe-haven Japanese currency. Elpida Memory shrank 4.4%, Isuzu Motors dropped 2.4% and Nikon Corp. shed 2.3%.
Shionogi & Co. bucked the market to jump 3.8% after saying Wednesday that the company and GlaxoSmithKline will start a phase-three clinical study on an HIV infection treatment following favorable results from phase-two trials.
Australian shares declined as investors took a dim view of Bernanke's cautious comments. However, losses were contained by gains in some resource heavyweights after Wednesday's strength in base metal prices. BHP Billiton rose 0.3% and Rio Tinto added 0.6%.
Hynix Semiconductor shares slumped 4.2% in a broad market hobbled by the weak Wall Street lead, even though the company reported before the market opened that it had swung to a second-quarter net profit from a year-earlier loss, bolstered by strong chip prices and corporate demand for personal computers and handheld devices.
Samsung Electronics fell 1.1% and LG Display Co. shrank 3%, with Hyundai Motor Co. dropping 2.6% among auto makers.
Korea Electric Power Corp. added 0.6% despite posting a worse-than-expected second quarter net loss of 814.8 billion won ($678 million U.S.), compared to a net profit a year earlier. The gains came in the wake of news earlier in the day that South Korea's National Pension Service planned to buy more shares in the company, raising its maximum investment to 5% from its current 2.8% over the next three years.
SK Energy soared 7.2% on news it has been chosen as the supplier of rechargeable batteries to the Hyundai-Kia Automotive Group.
In foreign exchange markets, the dollar fell as low as 86.32 yen during the session, before recovering a little. It was buying 86.72 yen more recently, compared with 87.01 yen late Wednesday in New York. The euro was fetching $1.2824 U.S., from $1.2763 U.S., and 111.01 yen from ¥111.09.
CHINA
Shanghai-listed stocks climbed for a fourth successive time as property developers surged on hopes Beijing won't tighten policies in the near-term, with a reported delay in implementation of a tax on the industry also aiding sentiment.
Shanghai’s CSI 300 Index gained 33.95 points, or 1.2%, to 2,781.29
Shares of Agricultural Bank of China rose 2.5% in Hong Kong and 0.7% in Shanghai, boosted by an exchange filing that showed U.S. fund Capital Research & Management Co. bought a 12.79% stake in the company's Hong Kong-listed H-shares on their debut Friday, signaling long-term confidence in the Chinese lender.
Chinese property stocks led the gains in Shanghai following a report from the financial Website NetEase, which cited unnamed sources as saying the country's Ministry of Finance planned to start levying a real-estate tax on home-owners in selected cities from 2012, later than had been suggested in recent speculation.
China Vanke Co. jumped 2.6%, with Poly Real Estate Group Co. rising 4.5% and Gemdale Corp. advancing 2.4% in Shanghai.
The rally also sparked gains in Hong Kong-listed Chinese shares
Elsewhere;
Singapore’s Straits Times Index gained back 29.58 points, or 1%, to 2,955.67
Korea’s Kospi index moved back 13.25 points, or 0.8%, to 1,735.53
Taiwan’s Taiex Index slid 34.95 points, or 0.5%, to 7,666.34
New Zealand’s NZX index shed 22.05 points, or 0.7%, to 2,981.36
Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 lost 38 points, or 0.9%, to 4,374.70
