Tech Rebound, China Economy Roil Asian Stock Markets
Asian stock markets churned on Thursday as traders took positive overnight cues from Wall Street on tech issues, while also weighing a soft inflation report from Beijing that underscored concerns that the regional behemoth economy is still sapped by struggling real estate markets.Shanghai and Tokyo finished in the green, while Hong Kong lagged on soft consumer and property stocks. Other regional exchanges were mixed on the high side.In Japan, the Nikkei 225 opened evenly and rose to the close, finishing up 1.4% as tech issues rebounded after recent setbacks.The benchmark Nikkei 225 rose 924.80 to 67,743.85, although losing issues outnumbered gainers 146 to 76.Leading the upside was memory chipmaker Kioxia, up 8.3%, while Mitsubishi Materials declined 6.9%.In Hong Kong, the Hang Seng Index opened lower and closed down 0.7%.The broad gauge Hang Seng fell 169.28 to 24,030.18, as losing issues outnumbered gainers 66 to 26. The Hang Seng TECH Index was flat on the day, but the Mainland Properties Index fell 2.1%.Leading the upside was Semiconductor Manufacturing International, gaining 10.2%, while Laopu Gold declined 5.6%.On the mainland, the Shanghai Composite rose 1.7% to 4,036.59.In economic news, China's consumer price index (CPI) for June rose 1.0% on the year, down from 1.2% in May, triggering worries that the mainland's property and consumer markets remain soggy.China's producer price index (PPI), propelled by energy bills, rose 4.1% on the year in June, up from 3.9% in May, according to the National Bureau of Statistics.On the other regional exchanges, the South Korean KOSPI rose 0.6%; the Taiwan TWSE declined 0.8%; the Australian ASX 200 declined 0.3%; the Singapore Straits Times Index rose 1.2%, and the Thai Set advanced 2%. In late trading in Mumbai, the Sensex was up 0.3%.The MSCI All Country Asia Pacific Index was largely unchanged on the day.
