Mainland Chinese and South Korean shares advanced Thursday, while most other equity markets came off earlier lows as bargain buyers circled back into equities on attractive valuations.
In Japan, the Nikkei 225 average sagged 56.80 points, or 0.6%, to 8,981.94
Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index subtracted 188.53 points, or 1%, to 19,595.10
Attractive valuations also pushed several financials higher in the region, with China Construction Bank Corp. rising 1.7% in Hong Kong, Cathay Financial Holding Ltd. jumped 5.9% in Taipei, Australia & New Zealand Banking Group Ltd. climbing 1.5% in Sydney and Korea Exchange Bank up 3% in Seoul.
HSBC Holdings PLC dropped 2.9%, however, as trade resumed after being halted Wednesday afternoon, because of a disruption to the exchange’s corporate-announcements website.
In Tokyo, Shinsei Bank Ltd. fell 2.2%, and Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group Inc. dropped 1.9% after a tumble for their Wall Street peers.
In Hong Kong, Tencent Holdings Ltd., Cathay Pacific Airways Ltd. and Hong Kong Exchanges & Clearing Ltd. all lost ground -- by 4.7%, 2% and 3.3%, respectively -- after each reported first-half results.
Thursday marked the second day of gains in Seoul after the government there banned short-selling for three months, in the wake of extreme losses. The Kospi is still the worst performer among
Asia’s major benchmarks so far in August, with a net loss of 14.8%.
UBS strategists advised clients in a report to buy 11 "fallen angels," including Samsung Electronics Co. and Hyundai Motor Co., following their sharp pullback and the government’s ban on sale of borrowed stock. Samsung fell 1.7%, while Hyundai added 2.3% Thursday.
Japanese exporters declined as the dollar dropped below the 77-yen mark. Panasonic Corp. fell 1.7%, and Sony Corp. surrendered 2.2%.
Supporting the Australian stock market, shares of Telstra Corp. rose 5.7% after the telecommunications major’s profits beat analyst forecasts.
CHINA
Some reports also cited speculation about state-owned funds as a reason for the support to the Chinese market.
Shanghai’s CSI 300 Index improved 42.80 points, or 1.5%, to 2,866
Dow Jones Newswires cited a Chinese media account as saying that the National Council for Social Security Fund had bought at least 10 billion yuan ($1.6 billion U.S.) worth of stocks since Tuesday.
Separately, Takeda pointed to speculation of government institutions in South Korea and Taiwan also being among the buyers.
Gains in Shanghai were led by airline stocks on hopes that steep recent fall in crude-oil prices and a rising yuan would cut their fuel costs, with bargain buyers also snapping up some banks and property developers.
Shares of Air China Ltd. jumped 4.9%, and China Eastern Airlines Corp. soared 10.1%; in Hong Kong, they gained 2.9% and 6.5%, respectively.
In other markets;
Korea’s Kospi Index moved up 11.20 points, or 0.6%, to 1,817.44
Taiwan’s Taiex Index subsided 17.23 points, or 0.2%, to 7,719.09
Singapore’s Straits Times Index docked 24.87 points, or 0.9%, to 2,796.22
New Zealand’s NZX 50 Index added 24.88 points, or 0.8%, to 3,208.62
Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 Index sliced off 0.50 points to 4,140.80
