Asian Markets Mixed on China’s Industrial Data

Shares in Asia-Pacific were mixed on Thursday as investors reacted to the release of Chinese industrial profits data for April.

Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index dipped 0.18% to close at 29,113.20. Shares of Xiaomi in Hong Kong jumped 3.2% on Thursday after the Chinese smartphone maker on Wednesday reported a nearly 55% surge in its first quarter revenue as compared with the same period a year earlier.

Mainland Chinese stocks were higher on the day, with the Shanghai composite rising 0.43% to 3,608.85 while the Shenzhen component gained 0.7% to 14,897.19. Industrial profits in China soared 57% year-on-year in April, the National Bureau of Statistics said Thursday.

The Nikkei 225 in Japan slipped 0.33% to close at 28,549.01 while the Topix index declined 0.5% to 1,911.02. Over in South Korea, the Kospi slipped fractionally to end the trading day at 3,165.51..

Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 closed fractionally higher at 7,094.90.

MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan was little changed.

Asian Markets Currencies and oil

The U.S. dollar index, which tracks the greenback against a basket of its peers, was at 89.964 following a recent climb from below 89.7.

ADVERTISEMENT

The Japanese yen traded at 109.11 per dollar, weaker than levels below 108.9 against the greenback seen yesterday. The Australian dollar was at $0.7749, following an earlier low of $0.7721.

Oil prices were lower in the afternoon of Asia trading hours, with international benchmark Brent crude futures slipping 0.7% to $68.39 per barrel. U.S. crude futures shed 0.68% to $65.76 per barrel.