Hong Kong stocks led gains in a mixed Asia-Pacific session as Japan’s benchmark index was dragged lower by tech giant SoftBank Group.
The Hang Seng index in Hong Kong rose 1.71% in its final hour of trade, mostly boosted by property stocks. In mainland China, the Shanghai Composite pared previous gains and lost 0.13%. The Shenzhen Component also lost 0.236%.
Japan’s Nikkei 225 fell 1.06%, as heavyweight SoftBank plunged as much as 14% after its Vision Fund reported further losses, to close the session at 27,963.47 — the Topix fell 1.05% to close at 1,956.90.
The S&P/ASX 200 in Australia lost 0.16% to end its session at 7,146.3 and South Korea’s Kospi lost 0.34% to close at 2,474.65. MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan was up 0.6%.
Shares in the region ended higher last week after U.S. consumer prices rose less than expected and China announced some easing of its Covid measures. The Hang Seng index saw the best day since March 16.
Later this week, Japan is slated to report figures for gross domestic product, trade and consumer inflation, while Indonesia’s central bank holds a monetary policy meeting. Alibaba and JD.com are expected to release earnings results.
