Asian stocks ended mixed on Friday ahead of the release of the widely watched U.S. monthly employment report.
Japan’s Nikkei 225 index dipped 2.13 points to 15,077.24, while the yen turned a little stronger versus the U.S. dollar, trading at ¥102.288 from ¥102.427 on Thursday.
The Hang Seng Index in Hong Kong fell 158.66 points, or 0.7%, to 22,951.
The U.S. Labor Department was due to release the jobs report at 8:30 a.m. Eastern time. Wall Street expects that 210,000 jobs were created in May. That would extend a surge in new jobs from February to April that marked the best three-month stretch of hiring in two years for the world’s largest economy.
In Japan, telecoms giant SoftBank declined 1.6%, industrial-robot manufacturer Fanuc Corp. lost 1.3%, and electronics maker Hitachi fell 1.2%. However, semiconductor company Renesas Electronics Cop. advanced 2.8%, and tech major Sharp Corp. rose 2%.
In Australia, top gainers included investment bank Macquarie Group as it rose 1.7% and the Australia and New Zealand Banking Group picked up 1.3%. Westpac Banking Corp. moved up 1%, and National Australia Bank was higher by 0.9%.
The Hong Kong trading debut of Qingdao Port International’s stock was met with heavy selling as the launch coincided with a probe into the misuse of commodities held by other parties at the port as funding collateral.
After pricing its IPO at 3.76 Hong Kong dollars (49 U.S. cents), Qingdao Port saw its stock end the morning session at HK$3.67, for a loss of 2.4%.
While the city of Qingdao is probably better known globally for its namesake beer, it’s also the eighth busiest port on Earth (or so says the World Shipping Council). Reports say that authorities there are looking into whether some companies used their stocks of iron ore, copper and whatnot to obtain loans, possibly reusing the same lots for multiple loans.
Amid the selloff in Hong Kong, state-owned Bank of China was the most-heavily shorted stock, with a short-selling turnover of more than 553 million Hong Kong dollars ($71.3 million U.S.). Bank of China shares tumbled 2.2%.
Other major state banks also retreated, including China Construction Bank Corp., down 1.4%, Agricultural Bank of China, off by 0.6%, and ICBC, down 0.2%.
CHINA
The Shanghai CSI 300 slid 15.89 points, or 0.7%, to 2,134.72
The China Banking Regulatory Commission on Friday said it plans to lower the financing cost for Chinese companies and urged commercial banks to halt "unreasonable fees" they charge their customers. The regulator said they had set out plans for an overhaul on the banks.
In other markets;
Korean markets were shuttered for holiday
Singapore’s Straits Times Index recovered 19.79 points, or 0.6%, to 3,299.43
In Taiwan, the Taiex index ditched 6.26 points, or 0.1%, to 9,134.46
In New Zealand, the NZX 50 gained 22.95 points, or 0.4%, to 5,182.44
Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 grew 27.15 points, or 0.5%, to 5,464.03
