Japanese stocks ended lower Monday, with a persistently weak yen dragging on some Japanese exporters, while Hong Kong staged a late-session turnaround as banking shares rebounded.
In Japan, the Nikkei 225 average fell back 66.23 points, or 0.7%, to 9,448.21
Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index arrested its collapse, gaining 87.71 points Monday, or 0.4%, to 22,508.10
Toyota Motor Corp. lost 2.4% after the car maker issued a weaker-than-expected profit outlook late Friday, with the news weighing on the overall auto sector.
A strong yen erodes the repatriated profits of exporters, with Monday’s decliners including Fujitsu Ltd., down 2.3%; Nintendo Co. dropping 2.7%; and Toshiba Corp. lower by 1.5%.
Also bruising sentiment in Tokyo Monday were monthly data showing an unexpected drop in core machinery orders, which are considered a leading indicator of corporate capital spending.
In Hong Kong, stricter rules for residential mortgages hurt real-estate shares, but the Hang Seng Index surged late in the day on the banking rebound to end higher, after having traded down more than 1% earlier in the session.
Measures by the Hong Kong Monetary Authority on Friday to limit the size of mortgages for some residential properties helped send Agile Property Holdings Ltd. lower by 1.7%.
By the close, most major banks had chalked up solid gains in Hong Kong, with Bank of China Ltd. swinging to a 1% rise, and Bank of Communications Ltd. up 0.8%.
Weak crude weighed on energy shares around the region, with the benchmark Nymex contract languishing at or below $99 U.S. a barrel for much of the day.
Energy shares fell in Tokyo, with Inpex Corp. and Japan Petroleum Exploration Co. each ending 1.7% lower.
In Hong Kong, PetroChina Co. slipped 0.6%, while China Petroleum & Chemical Corp., also known as Sinopec, ended flat.
Still, weak crude helped some airline shares, with Cathay Pacific Airways Ltd. rising 0.4%.
CHINA
Banking shares suffered early in the session after People’s Bank of China data showed Chinese financial institutions issued 551.6 billion yuan ($85 billion U.S.) of new loans in May, easing from 739.6 billion yuan in April and missing a consensus expectation of 650 billion yuan cited in several news reports. Money-supply growth was also less than expected.
Shanghai’s CSI 300 Index slid 11.58 points, or 0.4%, to 2,950.35
But the banks staged a sharp rebound in late trading, with Delta Asia Financial Markets equities chief Conita Hung saying bargain hunting led the reverse.
But Hung warned that if China’s consumer price index surprises to the upside -- suggesting more aggressive tightening to come from Beijing -- the Hang Seng Index could test the 22,000 level later this week.
In other markets;
Korea’s Kospi Index inched up 2.07 points, or 0.1%, to 2,048.74
Taiwan’s Taiex Index dropped sharply, losing another 124.87 points, or 1.4%, on top of Friday’s
100-point-plus debacle, to 8,712.95
Singapore’s Straits Times Index gave back 19.31 points, or 0.6%, to 3,059.04
New Zealand’s NZX 50 Index faded 13.94 points, or 0.4%, to 3,476.68
Australian markets had the day off
