Stocks in the Asia-Pacific region closed in a mixed state on a quiet Tuesday, with SoftBank leading Japan’s losses after reporting a big loss in its venture capital fund overnight.
In Japan, the Nikkei 225 was down 0.88% at 27,999.96, as the yen strengthened 0.03% against the dollar to last trade at JPY 134.91.
Uniqlo owner Fast Retailing was up 1.49%, while robotics specialist Fanuc slipped 0.22% and tech investing giant SoftBank Group tumbled 7.02%.
SoftBank’s losses came after its Vision Fund reported a loss of JPY 2.93trn for the June quarter after the close on Monday, with rising interest rates putting pressure on the venture capital fund.
The broader Topix index was off 0.74% by the end of trading in Tokyo, settling at 1,937.02.
On the mainland, the Shanghai Composite was up 0.32% at 3,247.43, and the technology-centric Shenzhen Component was 0.24% firmer at 12,331.09.
South Korea’s Kospi added 0.42% to 2,503.46, while the Hang Seng Index in Hong Kong slipped 0.21% to 20,003.44.
Chinese technology heavyweight Alibaba Group rose 0.9% in the special administrative region, after it emerged that it had applied to change to a primary listing in Hong Kong, from its current secondary status.
Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing confirmed it had received an application on Monday, with the change expected to take place by the end of the year.
Alibaba announced its intention to seek dual-primary listing status in Hong Kong and on Wall Street in June.
Seoul’s blue-chip technology stocks were on the back foot, with Samsung Electronics down 1.32%, and SK Hynix losing 1.25%.
“Asian markets were generally positive including China, which saw modest gains despite the recent escalation of tensions following the visit of Nancy Pelosi to Taiwan and the ongoing outbreaks of Covid-10 capping any immediate economic recovery,” said Richard Hunter at Interactive Investor of the situation on Tuesday morning.
Hunter pointed to Wednesday’s looming inflation reading in the US, which was expected to confirm that further Federal Reserve tightening would be on the cards, with the majority expecting a further hike of 75-basis points in September and a “possibly terminal” rate of 3.65% by March, compared to the current 2.5%.
“Amid fears of the world’s largest economy nearing recession, however, the latest blow-out nonfarm payroll number from last week has, at least for the moment, put such fears to bed.
“The labour market is apparently signalling that the economy remains generally robust, meaning in turn that it is strong enough to withstand further rate rises without tipping into recession.”
Oil prices were higher at the end of the Asian day, with Brent crude futures last up 1% on ICE at $97.62 per barrel, and the NYMEX quote for West Texas Intermediate ahead 0.9% at $91.58.
In Australia, the S&P/ASX 200 managed gains of 0.13% to 7,029.80, while across the Tasman Sea, New Zealand’s S&P/NZX 50 rose 0.43% to 11,753.48.
The down under dollars were in a mixed state against the greenback, with the Aussie last 0.15% weaker at AUD 1.4331, while the Kiwi strengthened 0.09% to NZD 1.5896.
Reporting by Josh White at Sharecast.com.
