Asia report: Property stocks send Hang Seng soaring

Monday brought a mixed set of movements for Asia-Pacific bourses, with Hong Kong’s headline index leading the gains after it added almost 300 points.

In Japan, the Nikkei 225 was down 1.06% at 27,963.47, as the yen weakened 1.07% against the dollar to last trade at JPY 140.29.

Fashion firm Fast Retailing was up 1.53%, while automation specialist Fanuc was down 0.58% and technology conglomerate SoftBank Group tumbled 12.73%.

SoftBank’s plunge came after its tech-investing Vision Fund reported a JPY 1.38trn loss for the September quarter, although the wider group recorded a net profit of JPY 3.03trn.

The broader Topix index was off 1.05% by the end of trading in Tokyo, settling at 1,956.90.

On the mainland, the Shanghai Composite was down 0.13% at 3,083.40, and the technology-centric Shenzhen Component was off 0.24% at 11,113.46.

South Korea’s Kospi was 0.34% weaker at 2,474.65, while the Hang Seng Index in Hong Kong gained 1.7%, or 294.05 points, to 17,619.71.

Chinese technology plays led the gains in the special administrative region, with CIFI Holdings up 9.68%, Country Garden surging 45.54%, Logan Group ahead 38.67%, and Longfor Group 16.48% firmer.

The moves came after Chinese news outlet Sina reported that a batch of fresh measures were being prepared by Beijing to support a recovery in the mainland property market.

Seoul’s blue-chip technology stocks were in the red, with Samsung Electronics down 1.59% and SK Hynix losing 2.78%.

“Asian markets took the bullish baton, propelled by China’s decision to ease some of its zero tolerance on Covid-19, despite some fresh reported outbreaks, suggesting that the authorities are now officially recognising the damage being done to the economy,” said Interactive Investor head of markets Richard Hunter of the situation on Monday morning.

“At the same time, reports that there could be some extra support for the embattled property sector was a further boost to sentiment, sending the country’s real estate index higher by 5%.”

Oil prices were lower at the end of the Asian day, with Brent crude futures last down 1.05% on ICE at $94.98 per barrel, and West Texas Intermediate off 1.21% at $87.88 on NYMEX.

In Australia, the S&P/ASX 200 was 0.16% weaker at 7,146.30, while across the Tasman Sea, New Zealand’s S&P/NZX 50 was off 0.7% at 11,231.97.

Both of the down under dollars were weaker against the greenback, with the Aussie last off 0.42% at AUD 1.4981, and the Kiwi retreating 0.44% to NZD 1.6454.

Reporting by Josh White for Sharecast.com.