Asian markets ended mixed in lackluster trade as the holidays approached, with financial stocks striking a weaker note in Hong Kong.
Japanese markets were closed for a holiday.
Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index erased 142.22 points, or 0.6%, to 22,903
Merger-and-acquisition activity in the resource sector helped lift Australia’s main stock index to a multi-week high.
South Korean stocks ended little changed on the day, after closing at a three-year high in the previous session, with investors taking heart from signs China may be intervening with North Korea to help soothe tensions on the peninsula.
Pyongyang criticized large-scale live-fire drills staged by the South on Thursday, but it stopped short of threatening retaliatory strikes.
Riversdale Mining rose 1.7% after trade resumed, in response to Rio Tinto’s sweetened takeover bid. Rio won the endorsement of Riversdale’s board for a 3.9-billion-Australian-dollar ($3.91 billion U.S.) bid for the Mozambique-focused coal miner. Trade in the coking-coal company was halted Tuesday. Rio Tinto shares rose 0.5%.
In Hong Kong, Agricultural Bank of China fell 4.2% after China Business News reported Tuesday, citing unnamed sources, that China will likely increase the provisioning requirements on local government
Shares of Sinopec Shandong Taishan Petroleum fell 2.8%.
Chinese property developers fell after the Ministry of Commerce said it told its local branches to strengthen the review process for foreign investment in real estate to stem the effects of speculative-capital inflows on already high asset prices.
Blue chip China Overseas Land fell 1.4% in Hong Kong.
In other Hong Kong action, Agricultural Bank of China fell 4.2% after China Business News reported Tuesday, citing sources, that China will likely increase the provisioning requirements on loans to local-government financing vehicles.
In Korea, technology stocks were down, with institutional investors among likely sellers, though analysts remained upbeat on the overall direction of the market.
Analysts speculate that the Kospi may retake its all time high of 2064.85 -- marked on Oct. 31, 2007 -- in the near future.
Samsung Electronics declined 0.3% after rising 3.1% for the previous four sessions.
In currencies, against the U.S. dollar, the euro was at $1.3097 versus $1.3098 late in New York on Wednesday, and at 108.65 yen compared with 109.42 yen. The U.S. dollar was buying 82.9 yen, compared with 83.55 yen.
CHINA
In China, property developers were lower as investors worried that the government would unveil new measures to limit speculative investment in the real-estate sector.
Shanghai’s CSI 300 Index gave back 26.85 points, or 0.8%, to 3,188.61
China Vanke fell 1.8% and China Merchants Property Development declined 0.9%.
Oil refiners were also among the day’s biggest losers on concerns China’s latest increase in oil prices will raise their operating costs.
In other markets
Taiwan’s Taiex Index prospered 38.38 points, or 0.4%, to 8,898.87
Singapore’s Straits Times Index stepped back 6.53 points, or 0.2%, to 3,137.78
Korea’s Kospi Index slid 0.58 points to 2,037.53
New Zealand’s NZX 50 Index moved higher 11.38 points, or 0.3%, to 3,333.76
Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 Index gained 20.60 points, or 0.4%, to 4,799, to a six-week high.
