Steep losses for Chinese banks weighed on Hong Kong and Shanghai indexes, with the two bourses leading losses in Asian action Thursday.
In Japan, the Nikkei 225 average moved ahead 17.64 points, or 0.2%, to 9,467.15
Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index moved south 51.80 points, or 0.2%, to 22,609.80
Banks fell sharply in Hong Kong, with Industrial & Commercial Bank of China Ltd. down 1.4%, China Construction Bank Corp. falling 1.9%, and Bank of China Ltd. giving up 1.3%.
In Tokyo, technology companies were mostly weaker, with losses on the tech-heavy Nasdaq exchange in the U.S. Wednesday not helping sentiment already hit by the dollar hovering around 80 yen.
Stock in NEC Corp. lost 2.4%, while Renesas Electronics Corp. fell 2.2%, and Elpida Memory Inc. lost 1%.
Shares of Nintendo Co. extended sharp losses from the previous session to fall 4.7%, partially due to a UBS rating downgrade to neutral from buy. It marked Nintendo’s second day of sizeable losses, after falling 5.7% Wednesday, when the company unveiled its next-generation Wii video-game console.
Oil futures traded over $101 U.S. a barrel in Nymex electronic trading on Thursday, helping energy shares, with Santos Ltd. shares up 1.7% in Sydney, and China Petroleum & Chemical Corp. also known as Sinopec, rising 1.2% in Hong Kong.
Still, airlines suffered from the crude rally, with Air China Ltd. down 3% in Hong Kong, and China Eastern Airlines Corp. falling 2.8%.
Australian shares ended in the green as investors scaled back expectations for interest rate hikes following some relatively weak jobs data.
Companies closely tied to consumer spending advanced, with department-store retailer David Jones Ltd. shares up 0.8%, and Westpac Banking Corp. shares up 1.2%.
CHINA
Shanghai’s CSI 300 Index subtracted 56.76 points, or 1.9%, to 2,951.89
In Shanghai, ICBC lost 1.1%, while Agricultural Bank of China Ltd. fell 1.8%, and China Merchants Bank Co. dropped 2%.
Some analysts said the losses were partly inspired by fresh concerns over distressed loans after a mid-sized lender unveiled plans a day earlier to tap the markets for fresh funds to replenish its capital.
China Citic Bank Corp. Ltd. said late Wednesday it plans to raise 26 billion yuan ($4 billion U.S.) via rights issues in Shanghai and Hong Kong by the end of June. Shares of China Citic ended down 1.2% Thursday.
In other markets;
Korea’s Kospi Index eased 11.93 points, or 0.6%, to 2,071.42
Taiwan’s Taiex Index faded 6.59 points to 9,000.94
Singapore’s Straits Times Index backtracked 5.41 points, or 0.2%, to 3,097.57
New Zealand’s NZX 50 Index doffed 36.64 points, or 1%, to 3,488.75
Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 regained 12.80 points, or 0.3%, to 4,549.60
