Asia-Pacific Stocks Mixed as China, Hong Kong Struggle
26 April 2018 - 3:21PM
Dow Jones News
By Ese Erheriene
Declines in Chinese and Hong Kong stocks resumed Thursday even
as benchmarks in Japan and South Korea logged solid gains after
Wednesday's regional decline.
Indexes in China were down 1% at the midday break. The had
jumped earlier in the week, on talk of market and regulatory
reform, which stemmed recent selling that saw the Shanghai
Composite Index hit an 11-month low last week.
The benchmark is back near that level, and Chinese markets are
poised to stay weak and volatile in the short-term "without major
policies to boost the economy in China," said Castor Pang, head of
research at Core Pacific-Yamaichi International.
Late Wednesday, China's State Council unveiled additional
tax-relief policies intended to support high-tech companies,
startups and small firms.
But Ivan Ip, a market strategist at UOB Kay Hian, said
Thursday's market movement showed investors weren't interpreting
the tax-relief policies as good news, and were instead concerned
U.S.-China trade frictions might be spreading further into the tech
sector.
Tech continues to underperform in Hong Kong. That sector has
been hit by trade concerns fueled by the U.S. ban on sales of
American products to major Chinese telecom-equipment firm ZTE.
Smartphone-component maker AAC Technologies is on pace for a
record 12th straight decline: It was recently down 4% to hit a
fresh 8-month low. Lens maker Sunny Optical skidded 7.5%, returning
to levels last seen during early February's global stock slide.
Both are members of the Hang Seng Index, which fell 0.8% to
erase the month-to-date's gain.
"Investors are worried that Huawei and ZTE are only the first of
many to be involved in the Sino-U.S. trade conflicts," said Mr.
Ip.
Earlier this week, 10-year Treasury yields pushed above 3% for
the first time since January 2014 and the dollar's strong rebound
the past two weeks has it near 2018's strongest level.
The currency move helped Japanese stocks Thursday, with the
Nikkei up 0.6%, as it looks to set another two-month closing
high.
The best performer was Korea's Kospi, up 1.3% as heavyweight
Samsung Electronics rebounded. It rose 2.7% following the release
of its complete first-quarter results, reporting its fourth
consecutive quarter of record operating profits.
It said Thursday while it expects the memory business to remain
strong this quarter, earnings elsewhere "will be a challenge" due
to a weaker market for flexible displays and tougher competition in
the high-end smartphone industry.
Additionally, South Korea's first-quarter GDP rose 2.8% from a
year earlier.
While Indonesia's stock benchmark opened with near 2%
declines--building on a 2.4% drop Wednesday, its biggest in 17
months--Asia-Pacific benchmarks elsewhere were little changed.
Also, S&P 500 futures were recently up 0.2%.
For investors watching rising U.S. yields, the "gloom hand is
overplayed, " Stephen Innes, senior trader with Oanda, said in a
research note. He said U.S. equity investors are showing broader
confidence as earnings reports have generally been upbeat out of
America.
"All this should instill a definite sense of calm" even as
"massive regional" outflows have occurred this week, he said.
In other markets, bitcoin's march toward $10,000 on Wednesday
has been reversed, with the cryptocurrency recently around $8,900,
according to CoinDesk.
Oil futures are up some 0.5% in Asia despite the dollar's gains
and surprise increases seen last week in U.S. inventories.
Later in the global trading day, market participants will be
watching the European Central Bank's policy statement. No change is
expected.
James Glynn contributed to this article.
Write to Ese Erheriene at ese.erheriene@wsj.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
April 26, 2018 01:06 ET (05:06 GMT)
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