Asian markets ended mostly lower Thursday, with Chinese bank stocks falling on a lackluster debut for Agricultural Bank of China's Shanghai-listed shares. Resource stocks broadly declined on concern weaker Chinese economic growth might damp commodities demand.
Japan’s Nikkei 225 average let go of 109.71 points, or 1.1%, to 9,685.53
Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index dropped 305.15 points, or 1.5%, to 20,255.62
Resource stocks generally declined after the release of the Chinese data. Cnooc dropped 2.7% and Aluminum Corp. of China gave up 1.8% in Hong Kong, Inpex Corp. lost 5.1% in Tokyo and Rio Tinto slid 1.1% in Sydney.
Shares of Nufarm slumped 28.4% in Sydney after the company warned late Wednesday that its fiscal year profit would be 50% below its previous guidance. On Thursday it said it won't achieve a banking covenant on the ratio of earnings to net interest for the year ending July 31.
Australian toll-road operator Intoll Group bucked the market, rocketing 30% after saying it received a 3.47 billion Australian dollar ($3.05 billion U.S.) conditional takeover proposal from Canada Pension Plan Investment Board.
Tokyo shares fell to profit-taking following Wednesday's 2.7% rise. Exporters were under pressure from the yen's gains against the U.S. dollar and the euro on Wednesday. Kyocera Corp. dropped 1.2% and Fanuc slid 0.9%. Euro-sensitive shares were down, with Canon Inc. shrinking 2.5% and Sony Corp. dropping 2.4%.
Still, several shares came off their earlier lows after the Bank of Japan kept its policy target interest rate at 0.1% and upgraded its real economic growth projection for this fiscal year to 2.6% from 1.8% forecast three months earlier, as expectations grow that solid exports will continue to benefit the broader economy.
In foreign exchange markets, the euro was fetching $1.2789 U.S. from $1.2735 U.S. late Wednesday in New York, and buying 112.61 yen from 112.29 yen. The dollar was at 88.07 yen, compared with 88.19 yen.
CHINA
Chinese bank shares weighed on markets in both Shanghai and Hong Kong.
Shanghai’s CSI 300 Index backpedaled 45.09 points, or 1.7%, to 2,608.52
Agricultural Bank of China rose only marginally on its highly anticipated debut in Shanghai, finishing at 2.70 yuan compared with its initial public offering at 2.68 yuan. The stock's lackluster debut cast doubt over the rural lender's ability to exercise the green-shoe option on its initial public offering to claim the record for the biggest listing.
Among major banks, shares of Industrial & Commercial Bank of China dropped 1.7% and China Construction Bank Corp. gave up 2.1% in Shanghai; in Hong Kong, the stocks fell 2.4% and 2.3%, respectively.
There was mixed reaction to China's latest economic data. The nation's gross domestic product rose 10.3% on-year in the second quarter, from the first quarter's 11.9% growth rate, and undershot market expectations centred on a 10.5% increase. The country's consumer price index rose 2.9% in June, easing from May's 3.1% rise and well below economists' expectations of a 3.3% increase.
Elsewhere;
Singapore’s Straits Times Index lost 9.26 points, or 0.3%, to 2,943.55
Korea’s Kospi index eased 6.72 points, or 0.4%, to 1,751.29
Taiwan’s Taiex Index fell 9.99 points, or 0.1%, to 7,704.52
New Zealand’s NZX index gave back 25.12 points, or 0.8%, to 3,002.32
Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 slid 19.80 points, or 0.4%, to 4,442.60
