Stocks in Asia-Pacific mainly were down on December 15, with Chinese markets declining as investors key Chinese economic data. Meantime, Chinese biotech firm BeiGene made its debut in Shanghai.
In Hong Kong, the Hang Seng index fell 0.9% to finish its trading day at 23,420.76. The Hang Seng tech index dropped 1.52%.
Mainland Chinese stocks also declined on December 15. The Shanghai Composite fell 0.38% to close at 3,647.63. The Shenzhen component dropped 0.73% to 15,026.21.
On December 15, biotech firm BeiGene made its debut in Shanghai’s Nasdaq-style board Star Market at an offer price of 192.6 yuan ($30.24) per share, after raising more than $3 billion. Still, the stock opened 8.1% below that offer price at 176.96 yuan per share. It closed at 160.98 yuan on the first day, or about 16% down. BeiGene is already listed in Hong Kong as well as the Nasdaq in the U.S.
On the same day, China released a slew of critical economic data. The country’s output for November was up 3.8% year-on-year, more than the 3.5% increase in October.
Data released by China also showed that retail sales in November rose 3.9% year-on-year and below expectations of 4.6%.
Stocks around the world
The Nikkei 225 dropped 0.1% in Japan to end its trading day at 28,459.72. The Topix gained 0.52% to 1,984.10.
Toyota’s shares jumped 3.59% after the auto giant announced it would invest eight trillion yen ($70 billion) into electrifying its vehicles by 2030.
In South Korea, Kospi closed near flat to 2,989.39. In Australia, the S&P/ASX 200 dropped 0.7% to 7,327.10.
U.S. stocks suffered losses on December 14. The Nasdaq Composite fell 1.14% to 15,237.64. The S&P 500 declined 0.75% to 4,634.09. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 106.77 points or 0.30% to close at 35,544.18.
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