By Laura He, MarketWatch
Hong Kong stocks buck the weaker trend as HSBC advances
HONG KONG (MarketWatch) -- Japanese stocks on Tuesday tumbled to
their weakest closing level in more than a week, after HSBC's China
services purchasing manufacturers' index fell to record low.
The Nikkei Average lost 1% to end at 15,320.31, leading the
region's weaker trend. The benchmark index has fallen for a fourth
day in a row. The broader Topix index also finished down 1%, while
the yen (USDJPY) was little changed at Yen102.58 from Yen102.55 in
the previous session.
The HSBC China services Purchasing Managers' Index in July
dropped to 50.0 from 53.1 in June, marking the lowest reading since
November 2005 when the bank started releasing the data. Earlier,
China's official nonmanufacturing PMI also fell, to 54.2 in July
from 55.0 in June.
In Japan's markets, top underperformers included IT services
provider Fujitsu , sliding 3.2%, semiconductor company Renesas
Electronics Corp. , declining 2.3%, electronics giant Sharp Corp. ,
down 1.9%, and auto maker Mazda Motor , off 1.7%.
On the Chinese mainland, Shanghai stocks also headed lower after
the weak Chinese services PMI, as the Shanghai Composite Index
retreated 0.2%. It rallied 1.7% in the previous day.
Elsewhere, Australia's S&P/ASX 200 closed down 0.4%, and
South Korea's Kospi Composite Index gave up 0.7%.
However, Hong Kong stocks managed to end in positive territory,
with the Hang Seng Index edging up 0.2% at the close.
Index heavyweight HSBC Holdings advanced 1.8%, after its
first-half earnings came roughly in line with market
expectations.
Meanwhile, the world's largest pork producer, WH Group , surged
7.4% on its trading debut, after having previously pulled its IPO
only to relaunch it with a lower valuation price.
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