Asian stocks fell for a second weekly drop as declines among shipping companies and Japanese property developers offset gains by consumer and mining shares.
Japan's Nikkei 225 index closed the week with its eighth straight downward session, dropping 3.78 points, or 0.04%, to 9,287.28
In Hong Kong, the Hang Seng Index slumped 82.17 points, or 0.5% to greet the closing bell at 17,708.42.
STX Pan Ocean Ltd., South Korea’s biggest bulk carrier, lost 3.7% after shipping rates slumped for a seventh day. Mitsubishi Estate Co. fell 1.2% in Tokyo as office vacancies gained.
Sapporo Holdings Ltd., Japan’s fourth-largest beer maker, jumped 4.8% as the country’s beer shipments rose.
Rio Tinto Group, the world’s number-three mining company, added 1.6% after copper and oil prices climbed in New York.
Kawasaki Kisen Kaisha Ltd., the country’s third-biggest shipping line by sales, lost 3.9%. Mitsui O.S.K. Lines Ltd., operator of the world’s largest merchant fleet, declined 2.9%.
Mitsubishi Estate, which has properties concentrated in Tokyo’s business district, declined 1.2%. Sumitomo Realty & Development Co., Japan’s third-largest property developer, lost 1.9%.
The vacancy rate for offices in the central part of Tokyo rose for a 17th consecutive month in June, according to a report from real estate brokerage Miki Shoji Co. The vacancy rate rose to 7.25% from 6.96% in May, while rents fell.
Tokyo Electron Ltd., the world’s number-two maker of semiconductor equipment, added 0.7% after saying orders surged. The company said orders for machines that make semiconductors and flat-panel displays rose 82% in the first quarter, helped by bookings from chipmakers.
Kirin Holdings Co., Japan’s biggest beverage maker, gained 1.1%. Shipments of regular, low-malt and alternative beers by Japan’s five biggest brewers rose 6.1% in June to 46.46 million cases, the Brewers Association of Japan and Brewers Council of Happoshu Taxation said in a report.
BHP Billiton Ltd., the world’s biggest mining company, rose 1.1%.
CHINA
China’s Shanghai Composite Index gained ahead, albeit only 2.01 points, or 0.1%, to 3,398.31.
Guilin Sanjin Pharmaceutical Co. and Zhejiang Wanma Cable Co. both surged more than 80% on their trading debuts, the first companies to go public in the country since September.
Sanjin, China’s largest maker of herbal lozenges, sold 46 million shares at 19.80 yuan in its initial public offering. Wanma, which supplies cable to the nation’s dominant electricity distributor, jumped 125% to 25.93 yuan. The company sold 50 million shares at 11.50 yuan in its IPO.
The jump in the companies’ shares triggered trading halts. The gains underscore demand for new equity in a nation where households wield $3.6 trillion U.S. in bank savings and cast doubt on the effectiveness of the government’s attempts to prevent excessive first-day price swings.
Elsewhere:
Singapore’s Straits Times Index picked up 0.37 points, or 0.02%, to 2,307.98
South Korea’s Kospi index fell back 2.27 points, or 0.2%, to 1,428.62
Taiwan’s Taiex moved higher 21.68 points, or 0.3%, to 6,769.86
New Zealand’s NZX 50 Index let go of 3.40 points, or 0.1%, to 2,738.28
Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 tacked on 30.80 points, or 0.8%, to 3,794.10
