Tokyo, Nov. 5 (BNA): Most stocks fell in Asia on Friday, as concerns over real estate developers weighed Chinese markets.
Benchmarks fell in Shanghai, Hong Kong, Tokyo and Seoul, but rose in Sydney and Taipei.
Concern about problems in the real estate sector erupted after Kaisa Group, a Chinese developer, announced that Hong Kong-traded shares in its companies had been suspended after it failed to make payments on wealth products it secured.
Tight controls on borrowing by highly leveraged real estate firms have shaken the markets after one of the largest firms, the Evergrande Group, failed to repay some of its debts.
Hong Kong’s Hang Seng fell 0.9% to 24993.78. The Shanghai Composite lost 0.3% to 3,517.74.
Tokyo’s Nikkei 225 fell 0.7% to 293.61 while South Korea’s Kospi fell 0.3% to 2,974.33. In Sydney, the S&P/ASX 500 rose 0.6% to 7,472.60.
On Thursday, the S&P 500 rose 0.4% to 4,680.06, extending its winning streak for a sixth day. The index made a succession of record closes, often on days when the market got off to a pessimistic start.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 0.1% to 36,124.23, ending the blue-chip index’s five-day winning streak, while the Nasdaq added 0.8% to 15,940.31.
The Russell 2000 index of small-cap stocks fell 0.1% to 2,402.43.
Despite the mixed results, the latest market highlights underscore how traders remain in a buying mood, buoyed by the company’s strong earnings and the Federal Reserve’s decision, at least for now, to slowly begin rolling back policies intended to stimulate US economic growth when that happens. He was in the midst of an epidemic recession.
On Wednesday, the Fed said it would start reducing its monthly bond purchases of $120 billion in the coming weeks by $15 billion per month. The central bank may decide to raise the short-term interest rate, which affects many consumer and business loans, from almost zero.
Many market watchers concluded that the Fed was cautiously moving to undo its support, which is good news for Wall Street.
Investors continued to focus on the latest round of corporate earnings. Chip maker Qualcomm jumped 12.7% after giving investors encouraging earnings expectations and reporting strong quarterly results. Other chip makers also rose. Nvidia stock is up 12% and Advanced Micro Devices is up 5.3%.
Moderna sank 17.9% after lowering its forecast for the number of vaccine deliveries it expects to make this year. Merck stock rose 2.1% after British authorities approved the antiviral pill.
One of the main concerns for investors amid the latest round of earnings was the impact of supply chain problems on corporate profits and operations. Video streaming company Roku fell 7.7% after it gave investors a poor sales forecast and warned that supply chain problems will likely continue into 2022.
The OPEC+ alliance, made up of OPEC members led by Saudis and non-members led by Russia, has rejected pressure from US President Joe Biden to pump significantly more oil and lower gasoline prices for American drivers.
The US index lost $2.05 to $78.81 on Thursday. Brent crude, the international benchmark, rose 62 cents to $81.17 a barrel.
The US dollar fell to 113.68 yen from 113.75 yen. The euro fell to 1.1544 dollars from 1.1557 dollars.
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