China shares wavered Tuesday, before edging higher, as investors grew jittery awaiting the outcome of a Chinese five-year economic planning meeting.
The Nikkei 225 dropped 170.08 points, or 0.9%, to 18,777.04,
In Hong Kong, the Hang Seng restored 26.48 points, or 0.1%, to 23,142.73
On Monday, Japan Post Holdings Co. priced its initial public offering at the top of its proposed range, with the government raising about 693 billion yen ($5.71 billion U.S.) from selling 11% of its shares outstanding. In Hong Kong, China International Capital Corp. started to take orders from institutional investors for its up to $811-million U.S. initial public offering.
Shares mostly rallied in anticipation of more easing measures by Chinese authorities, announced last week, as well as the prospect of easing by the European Central Bank and the Bank of Japan.
The Japanese yen weakened ahead of the BOJ’s meeting at the end of the week.
The U.S. dollar traded as weak as ¥118.04 earlier this month but has strengthened since to last trade at ¥120.61 on Tuesday. The dollar is up 1% against the yen this year and reached an eight-year high of ¥125.85 in early June on expectations that the Fed would have raised rates in September.
Investors are also looking to the earnings report of Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba Group Holding Ltd. due before the U.S. market opens on Tuesday, for evidence that Chinese consumers are still shopping even as the economy slows.
Analysts surveyed by S&P Capital IQ expect Alibaba to earn 72 U.S. cents a share and net profit of $757 million U.S., or 4.8 billion yuan, up 58% from the same period a year earlier.
Shares of Alibaba hit a record low of $57.39 U.S. on Sept. 28, but have rebounded since, closing at $76.35 U.S. on Monday in New York. The firm’s IPO price was $68 U.S. a share.
CHINA
The CSI 300 in Shanghai inched up 3.62 points, or 0.1%, to 3,592.88
China’s Communist Party is holding its Central Committee meeting this week, where officials are expected to release an economic blueprint for the next five years. Last week, China reported its slowest growth in the third quarter since 2009, clouding its ability to meet a year-end target of about 7%.
Investor nerves offset steeps gains in China’s defense sector, which ended up 7.2%, according to a classification by Citic Securities Co.
On Tuesday, a U.S. Navy destroyer sailed within 12 nautical miles of artificial islands claimed by China, in a direct challenge to Beijing that raises the stakes of an expanding, multinational territorial dispute. The incident left its mark on marine-related companies.
CSSC Offshore & Marine Engineering Co. was up 7.9% and China State Shipbuilding Corp. gained 2.8%.
In other markets
The Kospi index in Korea gave back 3.43 points, or 0.2%, to 2,044.65
Taiwan’s Taiex index moved lower 44.04 points, or 0.5%, to 8,701.32
In Singapore, the Straits Times Index gained 14.61 points, or 0.5%, to 3,083.07
The NZX 50 returned from holiday to gain 30.36 points, or 0.5%, to 6,001.02.
The ASX 200 Index lost 1.84 points to 5,346.15
