Most Asian stocks fell Tuesday after the U.S. hardened its stance against Syria, with south-east Asian markets hit particularly hard, while mainland Chinese shares gained after data showing an increase in industrial profits.
Japan’s Nikkei 225 fell 93.91 points, or 0.7%, to at 13,542.77
Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index slid 130.55 points, or 0.6%, to 21,874.77
In Tokyo, meantime, several automobile and industrial stocks with a large international presence retreated as the U.S. dollar dropped under the 98-yen level.
Shares of Isuzu Motors Ltd. moved 2% lower, Toyota Motor Corp. fell 0.8%, and Hitachi Construction Machinery Co. lost 2.1%.
Energy stocks fell on a pullback in U.S. benchmark crude oil prices Monday, after spiking earlier on the possible U.S. action in Syria.
Among the majors, Inpex Corp. dropped 1.6% in Tokyo, Santos Ltd. declined 0.2% in Sydney, and Cnooc Ltd. fell 1.2% in Hong Kong.
Trading in shares of Hang Seng Index constituents PetroChina Co. and Kunlun Energy Co. was halted at the companies’ request, pending their respective announcements.
Also retreating in Australia, shares of Billabong International Ltd. dropped 5.1% after the surfwear retailer posted a wider-than-expected yearly loss of 860 million Australian dollars ($776 million U.S.)
CHINA
The Shanghai Shenzhen CSI 300 picked up 5.26 points, or 0.2%, to 2,340.88, adding to Monday’s jump, after official data showed industrial profits at Chinese firms continued to rise in July.
Mainland Chinese stocks rose in choppy trading after Xinhua news service cited official data as showing that combined profits at major Chinese industrial firms rose 11.6% year-on-year in July, accelerating from a 6.3% increase in June.
Cumulative profits for the January-to-July period climbed 11.1% from the year-ago period, data from the National Bureau of Statistics showed.
Following the data, Dongfeng Automobile Co. rose 0.7%, and China Shipping Container Lines Co. added 1.5%.
Shares of several Shanghai-based firms also extended their strong recent gains amid hopes they would benefit from a planned free-trade zone in the city. Among them, Shanghai International Port Group Co. and Shanghai Jinqiao Export Processing Zone Development Co. both jumped by the day’s 10% limit.
In other markets;
The Taiex Index in Taiwan erased 74.13 points, or 0.9%, to 7,820.84
Korea’s Kospi Index shed 2.02 points, or 0.1%, to 1,885.84
The Singapore Straits Times Index dropped 50.39 points, or 1.6%, to 3,034.02
In New Zealand, the Exchange 50 Gross Index slipped 3.65 points, or 0.1%, to 4,542.06
In Australia, the S&P/ASX 200 gained 5.81 points, or 0.1%, to 5,141.22
