SINGAPORE — Stocks in Asia-Pacific were mixed in Friday trade as shares in Hong Kong led losses among the region’s major markets.
Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index dropped 1.6% in early trade. Mainland Chinese stocks also retreated, with the Shanghai composite down 0.37% while the Shenzhen component shed 0.14%.
Shares of Chinese property developers in Hong Kong fell. China Evergrande Group slipped 1.27% while China Vanke dropped 0.58% and Sunac China Holdings plunged 4%. The Hang Seng Properties index traded 0.9% lower.
Trading in Hong Kong-listed shares of Chinese property developer Kaisa Group and several of its units was suspended on Friday, according to exchange notices.
It came after Kaisa Group said Thursday its finance unit missed a payment on a wealth management product, according to Reuters. Kaisa is the second-largest issuer of U.S. dollar-denominated offshore high-yield bonds among Chinese developers, according to Natixis. Evergrande ranks first.
Investors have been monitoring developments in the Chinese real estate sector amid an ongoing fallout that has seen firms such as debt-ridden Evergrande miss more than one interest payment on its offshore bonds.
Mixed Asia-Pacific markets
Elsewhere, Asia-Pacific stocks were mixed as South Korea’s Kospi fell 0.8%. Shares in Japan also declined as the Nikkei 225 fell 0.64% and the Topix index shed 0.73%.
The S&P/ASX 200 in Australia gained 0.54%.
MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan traded 0.33% lower.
Wall Street record highs
Overnight stateside, the S&P 500 climbed 0.42% to 4,680.06, another record closing high. The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite also rose 0.81% to an all-time closing high of 15,940.31. The Dow Jones Industrial Average lagged, dipping 33.35 points to 36,124.23.
The gains on Wall Street came following the U.S. Federal Reserve’s announcement on Wednesday that it will begin to slow its bond-buying program later this month.
Oil prices jump about 1%
Oil prices rose in the morning of Asia trading hours, with international benchmark Brent crude futures up 1.13% to $81.45 per barrel. U.S. crude futures jumped 1.33% to $79.87 per barrel.
The U.S. dollar index, which tracks the greenback against a basket of its peers, was at 94.358 after a recent climb from below 94.0.
The Japanese yen traded at 113.66 per dollar, stronger than levels above 114 seen against the greenback yesterday. The Australian dollar was at $0.7386, struggling to recover after a plunge from above $0.75 earlier in the trading week.
— CNBC’s Evelyn Cheng contributed to this report.
