Asian stocks hog limelight over China’s policy push to mkts
Seoul, Tokyo and Hong Kong settled in the positive territory, while Shanghai ended lower; European markets were trading mostly lower
Interim Budget seen as neutral to mildly positive for equities
Hong Kong: Asian markets opened the week on a positive note, with Chinese regulators announcing measures to support the country's teetering stock markets while heavily indebted property developer China Evergrande was ordered to undergo liquidation. US futures were lower while oil prices gained. China's securities regulator announced on Sunday that beginning Monday, China will suspend the lending of specific shares for short selling, a move to support the country's declining stock markets. The specific shares refer to Restricted Stock, which is typically allocated to employees or certain investors subject to sales restrictions.
The Hang Seng in Hong Kong added 0.9 per cent to 16,102.02 and the Shanghai Composite index was up 0.3 per cent at 2,918.81. China Evergrande Group will be liquidated after a Hong Kong High Court approved a creditor petition on Monday. The heavily indebted developer repeatedly had asked authorities to grant it more time to work out a resolution for its offshore debts. Evergrande has more than $300 billion in liabilities and can appeal the order. Tokyo's Nikkei 225 index climbed 1.1 per cent to 36,121.09. In South Korea, the Kospi jumped 1.5 per cent to 2,507.50. Australia's S&P/ASX 200 was 0.3 per cent higher to 7,576.60. In Bangkok, the SET rose 0.2 per cent.
On Friday, the S&P 500 slipped 0.1 per cent to 4,890.97. It was its first decline after a six-day winning streak. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.2 per cent to 38,109.43. Weakness for tech stocks dragged the Nasdaq composite to a loss of 0.4 per cent to 15,455.36. Intel led chip stocks lower even though it reported stronger profit for the last three months of 2023 than analysts expected. It dropped 11.9 per cent after giving forecasts for revenue and profit for the start of 2024 that fell short of Wall Street's estimates. KLA, a supplier for the chip industry, also dragged on tech stocks despite reporting better quarterly results than expected.
