Overview
Asia-Pacific stocks showed a mixed performance on Thursday, February 1. The Hang Seng Index in Hong Kong increased by 0.5% to 15,566.21, while the Nikkei 225 Index in Japan weakened by 0.8% to 36,011.46. Chinese companies in the Shanghai Composite Index also experienced a decline of 0.6% to 2,770.74. Singapore’s FTSE Straits Times Index dropped by 0.4% to 3,140.26. On the other hand, South Korea’s KOSPI Composite Index gained significantly with an increase of 1.8% to 2,542.46. Australian stocks, represented by the S&P/ASX 200 Benchmark Index, fell by 1.2% to 7,588.20.
Key Performers
Among the constituents of the Hang Seng Index, Li Ning, a sporting goods retailing company, had the largest increase on Thursday, with shares rising by 6.1%. Galaxy Entertainment Grp, a gambling industries firm, and Haidilao Intl Hldg, a full-service restaurants company, also performed well with gains of 5.9% and 4.6% respectively.
However, China Unicom (Hong Kong), a mobile telecommunications company, saw the largest drop in Hong Kong with shares weakening by 2.1%.
Within the Nikkei 225 Index, TDK Corp., a passive components company, experienced the largest increase on Thursday, with shares rising by 5.5%. Nomura Holdings, an investment banking firm, and Daiichi Sankyo, a pharmaceuticals company, also showed positive growth with gains of 5.1% each.
In contrast, Aozora Bank, a commercial banking company in Japan, saw the largest decrease on Thursday as shares plummeted by 21.5%. Sumitomo Pharma, a pharmaceuticals firm, and M3, a database/directory publishing company, also suffered significant declines with drops of 18.4% and 12.6% respectively.
