Asia: Stocks mixed as Shanghai Composite clinches sixth week of gains
The majority of Asian markets ended the week on a negative note, but the Shanghai Composite bucked the trend posting gains for the sixth consecutive week.
BHP Billiton Ltd.
$44.63
08:30 19/04/24
Commonwealth Bank of Australia
$111.86
08:30 19/04/24
Fortescue Fpo
$27.14
06:48 27/03/24
National Australia Bank Limited
$33.06
08:30 19/04/24
Rio Tinto Limited
$129.52
08:30 19/04/24
Sony Corporation
n/a
n/a
Westpac Banking Corporation
$25.50
08:30 19/04/24
The index, which has risen over 6% this week, climbed 2.2% to 4,287.66 on Friday, topping 4,200 for the first time since March 2008, as nuclear shares surged after the State Council, China’s cabinet, approved construction of the country's first domestically designed nuclear reactor.
Nuclear-power-equipment manufacturer Shanghai Electric Group gained a further 9.9% after jumping 21% on Thursday, while Shanghai Electric Group, Dongfang Electric and China First Heavy Industries were suspended after their shares soared limit-up by 10%.
Hong Kong’s Hang Seng relinquished gains late on to decline 0.3% to 27,653.12, though the index posted a 1.4% weekly gain after rising 8% last week.
Japanese stocks bore the brunt of a stronger yen and disappointing earnings, which dragged the Nikkei Stock Average down 1.17%.
The yen climbed 0.35% against the dollar, with the greenback at ¥118.98 compared with the previous Tokyo stock close of ¥119.27.
Car-maker Nissan Motor fell, while Nippon Telegraph & Telephone (NTT) shed.
Tech giant Sony dropped after WikiLeaks published a searchable database of the Sony Pictures Entertainment emails and other documents, which hackers stole and posted late in 2014.
McDonald’s Holdings fell 0.5% after it said it expected a net loss of ¥38bn ($318.8 million) — its worst result since listing in 2001 — for the current financial year.
Australian stocks declined, as banks and miners pegged back the S&P/ASX 200
Iron ore prices enjoyed a mild rebound but that did not prevent metal giants Fortescue Metals Group and Arrium Ltd from losing 3.3% and 2.9% respectively.
Miners were also in decline, with BHP Billiton and Rio Tinto shedding 0.7% and 1.3% respectively, while the country’s “Big Four” banks also ended the final session of the week in the red.
Australia & New Zealand Banking Group fell 0.8%, Commonwealth Bank of Australia lost 0.7% while National Australia Bank and Westpac Banking Corp both fell 0.6%.