Major Asian markets delivered another mixed performance Friday, with Japanese shares ending higher as a weakened yen spurred auto stocks, while in Hong Kong stocks snapped a seven-session winning streak as investors sold local property developers.
The Nikkei 225 index gained 11.28 points, or 0.1%, to 10,541, to bring its gain for the first week of 2011 to 3.1%, after a 3% decline in 2010.
Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index slid 99.67 points, or 0.4%, to 23,686.60.
Hong Kong shares came under profit-taking pressure following a seven-session rally that sent the benchmark Hang Seng index up more than 5%.
Among major property stocks, Cheung Kong Holdings dropped 1.6% and Sun Hung Kai Properties shed 1.4%.
Resource-sector shares also dragged on Hong Kong and some other regional markets, on a recent correction in commodity prices under the weight of a strengthening U.S. dollar.
Cnooc lost 2.4% and PetroChina shed 0.8% in Hong Kong; Inpex lost 1.7% in Tokyo; Woodside Petroleum shed 0.5% and Rio Tinto dropped 1.8% in Sydney.
Back in Hong Kong, shares of Agricultural Bank of China, which raised $22.1 billion U.S. in an initial public offering late last year, shed 1.7% after it said in a stock-exchange filing that it is seeking shareholder approval to issue 50 billion yuan ($7.58 billion U.S.) in bonds over the next two years.
Trading in China Minsheng Banking was suspended pending announcement of a planned share sale to a private party.
In Singapore, Kim Eng Holdings surged 12.6% after Malayan Banking announced a bid of 4.26 billion ringgit ($1.39 billion U.S.) to buy the Singapore-listed company. Malayan or MayBank, slipped 0.2% in Kuala Lumpur, reversing early gains.
Automobile exporters paced the advance in Tokyo on the weakened yen, with Toyota Motor Corp. jumping 4.4%.
Penta-Ocean Construction tumbled 9% on heavy volume. The company said late Thursday that it would raise up to 5.1 billion yen ($61 million U.S.) through a public share offering.
In Sydney, CSR gained 3.6% after detailing plans for a special dividend and capital return as part of a proposal to return $800 million Australian dollars ($792 million U.S.) to shareholders.
In Seoul, Samsung Electronics shed 1% after it said its fourth-quarter operating profit likely fell, strengthening a view that the economic slowdown in Europe took a toll on consumer-electronics demand during what is traditionally a strong selling season.
In foreign-exchange markets, the euro fell as low as $1.2959 amid continued sovereign-debt woes in Europe and growing optimism over the U.S. economy.
The euro was at $1.2976 U.S. from $1.3009 U.S. in late New York trade on Thursday, and at ¥108.39 from ¥108.40. The dollar was at ¥83.64 from ¥83.36.
CHINA
On mainland China, however, financial shares broadly advanced to help the market rebound after two down sessions.
Shanghai’s CSI 300 Index inched up 6.98 points, or 0.2%, to 3,166.62.
Diverging from its Hong Kong performance, AgBank rose 1.5%, while China Construction Bank jumped 3.3%.
Ping An Insurance added 0.8% in Shanghai, after losing 4.1% in the previous session. The insurer late Thursday denied speculation that it plans a fund-raising exercise. Analysts said investor concerns may persist in the long term, as Ping An would need to boost its capital base after spending $2.7 billion last year to raise its stake in Shenzhen Development Bank to 30% from 5%.
In other markets
Korea’s Kospi Index tacked on 8.59 points, or 0.4%, to 2,086.20
Taiwan’s Taiex Index faded 100.49 points, or 1.1%, to 8,782.72
Singapore’s Straits Times Index eased 18.35 points, or 0.6%, to 3,261.35
New Zealand’s NZX 50 backpedaled 8.77 points, or 0.3%, to 3,317.94.
Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 Index gained 20 points, or 0.4%, to 4,705.
