Asian Markets Diverge, Nikkei Down on Tech Weakness

Arjun Pandit
09 Aug, 2022
Mumbai

In Asia, markets in Japan closed lower on earnings weakness but indexes in China, South Korea and Australia advanced. 

The Nikkei 225 index fell 0.9% to 27,999.96 after rallying for four days in a row and tech stocks led the decliners. 

SoftBank Group dropped 7% or 400 yen to 5,295.0 yen after the company's venture arm reported a huge loss of $23.4 billion and the company said it plans to cut jobs.  

The Shanghai Composite index rose 0.32% to 3,247.43. Hong Kong's Hang Seng index finished down 0.21% to 20,003.44. 

Japan Steel Works Ltd fell 9% to 2,861.0 yen and Tokyo Electron fell 8.5% to 45,600 yen after the release of quarterly results. 

Sony Group fell 2.5% to 11,435 yen after the tech conglomerate warned that the weakness in its gaming unit will negatively impact its quarterly results. 

Benchmark indexes in Korea advanced for the fifth day in a row and reached a two-month high despite the inflation and rate hike worries. 

The Kospi Average increased 0.42% to 2,503.46, nearly a two-month high since June 13. 

Australian markets advanced for the third day in a row and two separate reports showed diverging trends in business and consumer sentiments. 

The Westpac-Melbourne Institute Index of Consumer Sentiment declined 3.0 percent to 81.2 in August from 83.8 in July, the ninth monthly decline totaling 22.9% in a row after reaching a high in November 2021. 

The business confidence index rose to +7 in July from +2 in June after the capacity utilization rose to 86.7% from 84.9% in the period, according to the survey data released by NAB  

The ASX 200 increased 0.13% to 7,029.80 and the All Ordinaries index closed 0.26% higher to 7,278.60.

Markets in India were closed.