ASIA STOCKS drop on downbeat data

 

Mainland Chinese stocks fell Wednesday after a gauge of the country’s manufacturing sector dropped to a 11-month low, while Japanese shares fell on a firmer yen and a pullback in the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index.

 

 

The Shanghai Composite  fell 0.5% as investors digested preliminary data released by HSBC, showing China’s manufacturing Purchasing Managers’ Index slid to 47.7 in July from a final reading of 48.2 in June. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index was flat in choppy afternoon trade.

 

Shares of China Minsheng Banking Corp.  slid 2%, Jiangxi Copper Co. dropped 1.4% and Poly Real Estate Group Co.  skidded 3.1% in Shanghai.

 

Resource- and financial-sector shares also pulled back in Hong Kong after strong recent gains, with China Shenhua Energy Co.  losing 1.7% and PetroChina Co.  dropping 2.3%, while Bank of Communications Co.   gave up 0.8%.

 

Meanwhile, Japan’s Nikkei Stock Average  lost 0.3% after a two-day advance, and Taiwan’s Taiex  dropped 0.2%, while Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 and South Korea’s Kospi added 0.4% each.

 

India’s Sensex  dropped 1.3% a day after the Reserve Bank of India further tightened liquidity in the banking system as part of its efforts to support the rupee. Banks led the drop, with ICICI Bank Ltd. sliding 4% and State Bank of India  shedding 3.5%.

 

Shares of several technology firms defied the weak tone in regional equity markets to rise, however, after Apple Inc. reported better-than-expected sales despite suffering a steep decline in quarterly profits.

 

Among Apple suppliers, shares of Rohm Co.  gained 5.5%, and Taiyo Yuden Co.  rose 1.5% in Tokyo, LG Display Co.  added 2.4% in Seoul, and Hon Hai Precision Industry Co.   climbed 1.4% in Taipei.

 

KDDI Corp. , which offers iPhone service plans to its customers in Japan, advanced 1.7% in Tokyo trade. Apple’s rival Samsung Electronics Co.  gained 0.6% in Seoul.

 

 

Source of information>>

 

More information>>