Shares in the Asia-Pacific were mixed Thursday as investors digest economic data in the region.
The Hang Seng index was up 0.71% in the final hour of trade after jumping more than 3% in early trade, boosted by tech stocks. The Hang Seng Tech index rose more than 4% early in the session and was last up 0.9%.
The broader Hang Seng index lost 5% this week after seeing sharp falls on Monday.
In Australia, the S&P/ASX 200 gained 0.5% to 6,845.10 and South Korea’s Kospi added 1.74% to 2,288.78. The MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan rose 0.94%.
| TICKER | COMPANY | NAME | PRICE | CHANGE | %CHANGE |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| .N225 | Nikkei 225 Index | *NIKKEI | 27345.24 | 0 | 0 |
| .HSI | Hang Seng Index | *HSI | 15427.94 | 110.27 | 0.72 |
| .AXJO | S&P/ASX 200 | *ASX 200 | 6845.1 | 0 | 0 |
| .SSEC | Shanghai | *SHANGHAI | 2982.9 | -16.6 | -0.55 |
| .KS11 | KOSPI Index | *KOSPI | 2288.78 | 0 | 0 |
| .FTFCNBCA | CNBC 100 ASIA IDX | *CNBC 100 | 6809.44 | 17.6 | 0.26 |
Japan’s Nikkei 225 was 0.32% lower at 27,345.24 while the Topix lost 0.66% to 1,905.56. Mainland China’s Shanghai Composite slid 0.55% to 2,982.90, and the Shenzhen Component shed 0.63% to 10,750.14.
South Korea’s third-quarter GDP grew 0.3% from the previous quarter, the slowest growth since the third quarter of 2021. China’s industrial profits for January to September fell 2.3% compared to a year ago, the National Bureau of Statistics reported.
The Bank of Japan begins its two-day meeting on monetary policy Thursday. In corporate news, Samsung Electronics announced its third quarter earnings after releasing estimates earlier this month.
Overnight on Wall Street, the Nasdaq fell 2.04% to close at 10,970.99. The S&P 500 shed 0.74% to 3,830.60. The Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 2.37 points, roughly flat for the day and ending at 31,839.11.
Ping An’s stock up nearly 3% despite reporting decline in third-quarter profits
Ping An’s stock rose 2.84% in the morning session despite reporting a drop in third-quarter profits, as the broader Hang Seng index gained 1.74%.
Investors appeared to shrug off concerns after the insurer reported a 31.5% fall in profit in the July-to-September period compared with a year ago, according to Refinitiv data.
According to the report, the decline was attributed to the confluence of weak domestic market confidence, the “continued impact of Covid-19” and spillover effect of overseas factors.
— Lee Ying Shan
ANZ shares fall as much as 6.5% after inflation warning
ANZ’s stock dropped as much as 6.5% after the bank reported earnings but warned that cost-of-living pressures are starting to hit consumers and that “the next six months will be testing.”
Statutory profit after tax rose 16% for the full year ended Sep. 30, 2022, ANZ said. But CEO Shayne Elliott said the world is facing “significant uncertainty with central banks struggling to control inflation,” though he added that the bank has kept hardship resources in place for customers who require extra support.
The bank’s stock recovered some losses and last traded 3.72% lower.
— Abigail Ng
China industrial profits fell 2.3% for the first nine months of the year
Industrial profits in China for January to September fell 2.3% from the same period a year ago, according to official data from the National Bureau of Statistics.
The decline is slightly steeper than the 2.1% drop reported for the January-August period for the year.
Profits at manufacturing companies fell 13.2% in the first nine months of the year, data showed.
— Abigail Ng
Hong Kong movers: Chinese tech stocks pop at open, education stocks jump
Hong Kong-listed Chinese tech stocks jumped at open – Alibaba rising by more than 8% in the morning session.
Meituan gained more than 6%, and Tencent rose more than 3.5%.
Education stocks also popped – with New Oriental Education & Technology Group jumping more than 20% after reporting earnings and Koolearn Technology, an online education arm of New Oriental, gaining more than 10%.
–Jihye Lee
Samsung Electronics sees 31% drop in quarterly profit
Samsung Electronics reported a 31.39% drop in profits for the third quarter to 10.85 trillion won ($7.67 billion) from 15.8 trillion won in the same period a year earlier.
The company earlier released preliminary operating earnings and estimated that its profit fell 32%.
Shares of Samsung Electronics initially fell 0.7% shortly after the earnings release, before paring losses. It last traded 0.17% higher.
–Jihye Lee
CNBC Pro: Stocks and bonds are struggling. Give these strategies a shot, say Goldman and others
Both stocks and bonds have struggled this year, leaving investors with few alternatives.
Analysts share their strategies on how to thrive in these difficult conditions — including one behind the success of an index that was “almost a mirror image” of the losses in the S&P 500 index.
South Korea’s economy reports slowest quarterly growth in year
South Korea’s gross domestic product rose 0.3% for the July-September period, the slowest quarterly growth that its seen in a year, according to Bank of Korea data — after growing 0.7% in the previous quarter.
The GDP growth was backed mostly by consumer spending and investment in facilities, which grew 1.9% and 5% respectively.
Compared to the same period a year ago, the economy grew 3.1%, slightly more than the 2.9% annualized growth seen in the second quarter of this year.
–Jihye Lee
Chinese onshore and offshore yuan strengthen
Chinese onshore and offshore yuan strengthened sharply against the dollar in Asia’s afternoon on Wednesday.
Onshore Chinese yuan strengthened to 7.1880 per dollar from hovering around 7.3 levels, while the offshore yuan last traded at 7.2150 against the greenback after trading above 7.25.
–Jihye Lee
CNBC Pro: These ‘all-weather’ stocks can protect your portfolio in a recession, says outperforming fund manager
Top Wall Street executives say a recession is coming. But these three stocks “will work in any type of economic environment,” says Foord Asset Management’s Brian Arcese.
The portfolio manager, whose funds have outperformed the market this year, shared how investors can “recession proof” their portfolios.
