Hong Kong stocks fell Wednesday as banks suffered from the double-whammy of a Chinese reserve-requirement hike and concerns over a possible Greek default, though Japanese stocks rose, helped by exporters.
In Japan, the Nikkei 225 average picked up 26.53 points, or 0.3%, to 9,574.32
Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index faded 152.23 points Tuesday, or 0.7%, to 22,343.80, with financials losing ground.
Bank of China Ltd. and HSBC Holdings PLC each fell 1.3%, and Agricultural Bank of China Ltd. gave up 1.4%.
The losses extended a late-session fall Tuesday, after the People’s Bank of China (PBOC) raised banks’ reserve requirement ratios.
Also weighing on the sector were anxieties over whether Greece would secure further aid to shore up its finances, with the issue prompting Moody’s Investors Service to place three French banks on review for a possible downgrade due to exposure to Greek debt.
Concerns about Greece also weighed on Esprit Holdings Ltd., which relies on Europe as a source for much of its revenue. Shares of Esprit closed down 5.1% in Hong Kong.
Chinese property developers also took a hit Wednesday after Standard & Poor’s cut its outlook on the sector to negative, citing "increasingly challenging" conditions from tightened credit and restrictive government policy.
Evergrande Real Estate Group Ltd. fell 4.7% in Hong Kong, while China Overseas Land & Investment Ltd. lost 1.4%.
Japan’s Nikkei Stock Average gained ground, with some exporter shares boosted by data released Tuesday showing China maintaining strong growth and U.S. retail sales dropping by less than most economists had expected.
Among the gainers, Elpida Memory Inc. rose 1.5%, Sony Corp. climbed 1%, and NEC Corp jumped 2.4%.
Honda Motor Co. closed 2% higher, as the market shrugged off a weak fiscal-year outlook from the auto maker after the market close Tuesday.
In Sydney, airlines came under selling pressure after Qantas Airways Ltd. and Virgin Blue Holdings Ltd. both cancelled flights to Perth due to a volcanic ash cloud. Virgin Blue shares fell 1.7%, while Qantas shares ended down 1.6%.
Qantas also announced Wednesday it would seek to save money by trimming its capacity growth.
In other markets;
Shanghai’s CSI 300 Index slid 30.44 points, or 1%, to 2,963.12
Korea’s Kospi Index moved up 9.70 points, or 0.5%, to 2,086.53
Taiwan’s Taiex Index inched ahead 2.24 points to 8,831.45
Singapore’s Straits Times Index sidled back 2.57 points to 3,054.82
New Zealand’s NZX 50 Index tacked on 17.52 points, or 0.5%, to 3,506.37
Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 Index dropped 18.20 points, or 0.4%, to 4,566.80.
