Major Asia-Pacific markets closed mixed on Wednesday, while shares of China’s most indebted property developer Evergrande and some of its units soared.
The Nikkei 225 jumped 182.36 points, or 0.7%, to 28,070.51.
The Japanese yen traded at 110.76, weaker than levels around 110.4 the day before.
In Hong Kong, the Hang Seng added 54.54 points, or 0.2%, to 26,660.16.
Singapore markets went south as the country’s trade and industry ministry said Wednesday that the economy grew 14.7% in the second quarter compared to a year ago, better than official advance estimates of a 14.3% expansion. The country also expects its economy to grow between 6% and 7% in 2021, an upgrade from past projections of 4% to 6%.
Oil stocks in the region rose on the back of those gains. In Australia, Santos was up 1.4%, while Beach Energy jumped nearly 3%. Oil Search climbed 1.3%, and Origin Energy soared 3.8%.
In Hong Kong, Petrochina jumped 3.1%, CNOOC rose 1.7% and Sinopec surged nearly 2%.
The Australian dollar changed hands at $0.7327, a touch lower than levels above $0.734 seen yesterday.
CHINA
In Shanghai, the CSI 300 docked 27.81 points, or 0.6%, to 5,015.34.
Shares of China Evergrande jumped more than 8% in the afternoon, after the company said in a filing that it was in discussions to sell stakes in its units which include Evergrande Property Services and Evergrande New Energy Vehicle Group.
Shares of Evergrande Property Services surged more than 12% in the afternoon, while the new energy vehicle unit soared more than 11%.
In other markets
In Singapore, the Straits Times doffed 27.36 points, or 0.9%, to 3,180.
The Kospi index in Korea dipped 22.57 points, or 0.7%, to 3,220.62.
In Taiwan, the Taiex index subtracted 96.46 points, or 0.6%, to 17,227.16
In New Zealand, the NZX 50 deducted 16.16 points, or 0.1%, to 12,748.07.
In Australia, the ASX 200 moved forward 21.74 points, or 0.3%, at 7,584.20.
