Asian stock indexes ended mixed Friday, with shares in Shanghai slightly higher after China's banking regulator sought to reassure markets on the reasons behind stress tests for the banking sector.
Japan’s Nikkei 225 Index dropped off 11.80 points, or 0.1%, to 9,642.12
Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index advanced 127.08 points, or 0.6%, to 21,678.80
Wheat futures prices soared Thursday to their highest levels in two years after Russia said it would ban grain exports due to a severe drought, a move that heightens concerns about global supplies of the grain and the impact on food prices.
The news prompted Australia's Graincorp to rise 3.2% while Incitec Pivot, a fertilizer seller, was up 2.4%, on expectations of higher demand in the event wheat output is pushed higher.
In Hong Kong, shares of Gome Electrical Appliances Holding Ltd. tumbled 12.1% in resumed trade, a day after the company said it would launch a lawsuit against its jailed founder, Huang Guangyu, for breach of fiduciary duties, according to reports.
Huang is currently serving a 14-year prison sentence in China on charges of insider trading, illegal business dealings and bribery.
Shares of Hutchison Whampoa surged 9.7% following stronger profit and a statements by the company that it expects its third-generation mobile-phone business to be profitable on an earnings before interest and tax basis.
In Japan, Nikon was up 3.9% after news it swung to a first-quarter net profit compared to a loss a year earlier on robust sales of digital cameras and a recovery in demand for semiconductor-manufacturing equipment.
Real-estate shares outperformed for the second straight day on a decline in office vacancy rates in central Tokyo. Mitsui Fudosan gained 3.9% and Mitsubishi Estate was up 2.7%.
In foreign-exchange markets, the euro was at $1.3185 against the U.S. dollar, from $1.3186 in late New York trade on Thursday, and at 113.43 yen from ¥113.16. The dollar was at ¥86.03 from ¥85.74.
CHINA
The China Banking Regulatory Commission sought to play down the meaning of stress tests designed to assess the impact of a sharp fall in property prices, even as separate reports Friday said such tests were being expanded to include credit risks from the cement and steel sectors.
Shanghai’s CSI 300 Index picked up 46.83 points, or 1.6%, to 2,897.66
These tests are "one commonly used method for commercial banks to manage risk ... [and] do not represent judgments of the trend in real estate, nor do they represent possible changes to real-estate policy," the CBRC said in a statement on its Website.
Among Shanghai-listed financials, shares of Bank of Communications rose 2.7% while Bank of China added 0.9%. Shanghai-listed shares of developer China Vanke jumped 7.1%.
Elsewhere;
Singapore’s Straits Times Index subsided 11.70 points, or 0.4%, to 2,995.06
Korea’s Kospi index slid 0.03 points to 1,783.83
Taiwan’s Taiex Index regained 26.45 points, or 0.3%, to 7,963.30
New Zealand’s NZX index docked 0.04 points to 3,044.63
Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 lost 0.4 points to 4,566.10
