Shares in Asia-Pacific were down in Wednesday trade, with Chinese tech stocks in Hong Kong posting big losses.
By Wednesday afternoon in Hong Kong, shares of Tencent fell 3.07% while e-commerce giant Alibaba declined 3.01%, and Meituan sank 5.02%. Remarkably, the Hang Seng Tech index declined by 3.57%.
The broader Hang Seng index in Hong Kong led losses among the region’s major markets, dropping 1.74% as of its final hour of trading.
Meanwhile, mainland Chinese stocks dipped on the day. The Shanghai Composite dropped 0.98% to close at 3,562.31, whereas the Shenzhen component fell 1.095% to 14,393.51.
According to data released Thursday by China’s National Bureau of Statistics, industrial profits in China rose 16.3% year-on-year in September.
Japan’s Nikkei 225 closed mildly lower at 29,098.24, whereas the Topix index dropped 0.23% to close at 2,013.81. Kospi in South Korea also fell 0.77% to 3,025.49.
Shares in Australia were up as the S&P/ASX 200 increased fractionally to 7,448.70. According to Australia’s Bureau of Statistics data, its consumer price index (CPI) advanced 0.8% in the September 2021 quarter.
Dow Surged 15.73 Points to A New Record Closing Peak of 35,756.88
Remarkably, the reading for quarterly consumer inflation was in line with expectations from a Reuters poll.
The Australian dollar climbed to $0.753 following the data release versus an earlier low of $0.7495.
Moreover, MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares, excluding Japan, declined 0.68%.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average surged 15.73 points to a new record closing peak of 35,756.88. Meanwhile, the S&P 500 rose 0.18% to 4,574.79, while the Nasdaq Composite climbed fractionally to around 15,235.72.
Oil prices were down in Asia trading hours. International benchmark Brent crude futures declined 1% to $85.54 per barrel. U.S. crude futures dropped 1.09% to $83.73 per barrel.
The U.S. dollar index was at 93.861, following a recent rise to levels around 94.
The Japanese yen was at 114 per dollar, stronger than levels around 114.2 seen earlier versus the dollar.
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