Asian stocks ended mostly lower on Thursday, but Tokyo shares slightly rose, extending their winning streak to six sessions.
Japan’s Nikkei 225 index crept up 10.77 points, or 0.1%, to 14,681.72. Meanwhile, the U.S. dollar dropped versus the yen buying ¥101.581 from ¥101.778 on Wednesday.
In Tokyo, auto makers were strong, as Nissan Motor advanced 2.1%, Mazda Motor rose 1.4% and Toyota Motor added 0.9%. Electronics giant Sharp Corp. also climbed, by 3.6%, and rival Panasonic Corp. gained 1.2%.
Japan’s April retail sales dropped, coming in a little worse than economists’ already low expectations.
Overall, retail sales fell 4.4% from a year earlier, underperforming a forecast 3.3% decrease from a Reuters survey, while the large-scale retailers saw their sales retreat by 6.8% on a same-store basis, according to the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry.
This is the first data release since Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s government implemented the first increase of a likely two-step hike to the nation’s sales tax.
A month ahead of the hike, shoppers had rushed to beat the deadline, sending March sales jumping 11%, with sales at the large retailers soaring more than 16%.
The Hang Seng Index in Hong Kong dipped 69.89 points, or 0.3%, to 23,010.14, as falling tech stocks and casinos dragged down the benchmark index.
Market heavyweight and Internet company Tencent Holdings tumbled 3.1%, and software provider Kingsoft Corp. slid 11.6% as Kingdee International Software Group sank 5.5%.
Among casinos, Galaxy Entertainment Group gave up 3%, and both Sands China and MGM China Holdings pulled back 2%.
Most property developers were weak, as Sumitomo Realty & Development Co. fell 0.9%, and Mitsubishi Estate Company lost 0.8%.
Chinese insurance firms still outperformed, with China Taiping Insurance Holdings climbing 3.5%, China Pacific Insurance (Group) Co. up 1.8%, and China Life Insurance Co. higher by 1%.
In other markets;
Shanghai’s CSI 300 Composite fell 14.19 points, or 0.7%, to 2,155.16
Taiwan’s Taiex Index slipped 12.71 points, or 0.1%, to 9,109
Singapore’s Straits Times Index improved 28.87 points, or 0.9%, to 3,300.71
Korea’s Kospi index dropped 4.80 points, or 0.2%, to 2,012.26
New Zealand NZX 50 index nicked up 1.70 points to 5,183.16
Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 dropped 7.71 points, or 0.1%, to 5,519.47
