Shanghai-listed shares fell and gains in Sydney narrowed Thursday after a preliminary reading of a key survey on Chinese manufacturing fell to a 28-month low, raising fresh concerns about a slowdown in the world’s second-largest economy.
In Japan, the Nikkei 225 average inched up 4.49 points to 10,010.40
Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index faded 16.40 points, or 0.1%, to 21,987.30.
But some banks in the region inched up ahead of a key summit in Brussels Thursday, where euro-zone leaders were to try to hammer out a definitive solution to the region’s sovereign-debt woes
HSBC Holdings PLC, which has a large U.K. presence, rose 0.9% and Standard Chartered PLC added 0.8%.
Banks also gained in Sydney, with National Australia Bank Ltd. shares rising 1.3% and Commonwealth Bank of Australia rising 0.4%.
The rise in banking shares came after media reports that Germany and France had reached a joint agreement on a Greek bailout deal ahead of the talks.
Meanwhile, shares of Fast Retailing Co. umped 2.9% after Nomura lifted its earnings forecasts for the firm to reflect potentially lower cotton prices and said it also expects improved margins at its Uniqlo Japan unit and expansion at Uniqlo International.
Shares of its peer Esprit Holdings gained 3.9% in Hong Kong on inexpensive valuations.
Among other movers, shares of Cnooc Ltd. dropped 3.6% in Hong Kong, extending losses from the previous session, after the company announced an acquisition of oil-sands firm OPTI Canada Inc.
LG Chem Ltd. fell 6.5% in Seoul after reporting late Wednesday that its quarterly profit fell 3.3% compared to a year ago, while Hynix Semiconductor Inc. lost 2.3% after posting a 34% drop in second-quarter net profit on lower chip prices.
Shares of All Nippon Airways Co. rose 0.4% in Tokyo and those of Malaysia’s AirAsia Bhd. gained 2.9% in Kuala Lumpur’s afternoon trading, after the two airlines announced they will launch a new low-cost airline which will begin operations in about a year.
CHINA
The drop in mainland Chinese stocks came after HSBC said that an initial reading of China’s purchasing managers’ index fell to 48.9 in July from 50.1 in June.
Shanghai’s CSI 300 Index gave back 32.43 points, or 1.1%, to 3,059.14
A measure below 50 indicates a contraction in manufacturing activity.
After the China PMI data, Aluminium Corp. of China Ltd. shares fell 1.8% and Jiangxi Copper Co. lost 2.8% in Shanghai; in Hong Kong, they dropped 1.5% and 2.4%, respectively.
Several Chinese banks also declined, with Agricultural Bank of China Ltd. shrinking 2% in Hong Kong and 0.4% in Shanghai.
In other markets;
Korea’s Kospi Index fell 9.91 points, or 0.5%, to 2,145.04
Taiwan’s Taiex Index moved up another 10.97 points, or 0.1%, to 8,717.14
Singapore’s Straits Times Index advanced 11.98 points, or 0.4%, to 3,138.51
New Zealand’s NZX 50 Index moved up 12.97 points, or 0.4%, to 3,421.34
Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 Index gained 6.30 points, or 0.1%, to 4,556
