losses on Chinese stocks as tech stocks fall

SINGAPORE – Volatile trading continued for Chinese stocks on Friday as losses were seen again – a day after recovering some gains after a dip earlier in the week.

Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index fell 1.2% at the start of trading. Declines were seen in tech stocks after their surge on Thursday. Alibaba fell 4.5%, Tencent lost nearly 3%, and Meituan lost more than 5%. The Hang Seng Tech index globally plunged 3.6%.

Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index plunged more than 8% in two days at the start of the week and rebounded 3% in Thursday’s session.

Mainland Chinese listed stocks did not fare any better, with the Shanghai composite falling more than 1% and the Shenzhen component down 1.25%.

The yuan rallied sharply, however, after selling earlier this week following stock losses. The offshore yuan was at 6.4638 on Friday morning, after weakening to around 6.52 earlier this week.

Japan’s Nikkei 225 plunged 1.65%, while the Topix lost more than 1%.

Reuters reported that the country’s industrial production jumped 6.2% in June, up sharply from a 6.5% drop in May. Retail sales for June were up 0.1% from a year earlier, less than expectations of a 0.2% gain.

South Korea’s Kospi lost almost 1%.

The S & P / ASX 200 in Australia edged down 0.07%. Markets will follow the Covid situation in Sydney, which on Thursday reported a record daily increase in Covid cases despite an extended lockdown. Reuters reported that authorities have requested the military’s help in enforcing the lockdown.

The largest MSCI index of Asia-Pacific equities excluding Japan fell 0.83%.

Stocks rallied in the United States in Thursday’s regular session, although data showed second-quarter U.S. GDP grew 6.5% on an annualized basis, considerably less than the estimate of 8 , 4% of the Dow Jones.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average gained around 150 points on Thursday after hitting a new intraday high. The S&P 500, which also briefly touched an all-time high, ended the day 0.4% higher at 4,419.15.

“Yesterday’s rebound in Chinese equities after the recent regulatory-induced selloff provided a positive lead for strong performance in risk assets overnight,” said Rodrigo Catril, senior currency strategist at National Australia Bank .

The US dollar index, which tracks the greenback against a basket of its peers, was at 91.966, falling from levels above 92 the previous day.

The Japanese yen was trading at 109.50 to the dollar, strengthening slightly from levels above 109.9 earlier in the week. The Australian dollar changed hands at $ 0.7383, after falling earlier in the week to around $ 0.735.

Oil prices fell on the morning of Asian trading hours, with Brent crude futures down 0.46% to $ 75.71 a barrel. US crude futures fell 0.45% to $ 73.27 per barrel.