It was not an easy day, as stocks in major Asian-Pacific markets fell on January 28. However, before discussing stocks in Asia-Pacific, let’s have a look at the shares of Hong Kong’s flag carrier Cathay Pacific.
Interestingly, shares of Cathay Pacific fell 9.71% after the firm said that it would issue convertible bonds worth 6.74 billion Hong Kong dollars ($869.36 million). It is worth mentioning that, the five-year bonds have an initial conversion price of HK$8.57 a share, a 30% premium to its last closing price before the issue was issued, and will carry a coupon rate of 2.75%.
Several days ago, Cathay Pacific warned passenger capacity could be cut by about 60%. This is not the end of the story as cargo capacity would fall by 25% and its monthly cash burn would rise if Hong Kong implements new COVID-19 measures. Importantly, the new measures would require flight crew to quarantine for two weeks upon their return home.
Based on the information provided by the company, the anticipated move would increase monthly cash burn by around HK$300 million to HK$400 million, on top of the current HK$1 billion to HK$1.5 billion.
Let’s get back to the stocks. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index declined 2.55% to close at 28,550.77.
Importantly, mainland Chinese stocks fell on January 28. The Shanghai Composite dropped 1.91% to close at 3,505.18. In the meantime, the Shenzhen Component fell 3.248% to about 14,913.21.
In Japan, the Nikkei 225 dropped 1.53% to close at 28,197.42. At the same time, the Topix index fell 1.14% to end its trading day at 1,838. 85.
South Korea’s Kospi declined 1.71% to 3,069.05.
In Australia, S&P/ASX 200 fell 1.93% to close at 6,649.70.
Shares of Apple suppliers on Thursday
Let’s have a look at the shares of Apple suppliers in Asia. In South Korea, LG Display added 0.44% and in Japan, Murata Manufacturing fell 3.97%.
In Taiwan, shares of contract manufacturer Hon Hai Precision Industry better known as Foxconn dropped 3.66%. Shares of another company Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company fell 2.28%.
It is worth mentioning that, the moves came after Apple reported its largest quarter by revenue of all-time on January 27. For the first time in its history, the company crossed the $100 billion mark in a single quarter. The first-quarter earnings report for fiscal 2021 once more showed Cupertino-based company’s capabilities.
Interestingly, Hong Kong-listed shares of Chinese tech giant Alibaba dropped 3.23%.
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