Investing.com – Asian stock markets were mixed on Thursday, amid speculation China would introduce monetary tightening measures, while shares in Japanese exporters were boosted by the outlook for export earnings.
During late Asian trade, Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index shed 0.45%, South Korea's Kospi Composite climbed 0.9%, while Japan’s Nikkei 225 Index edged 0.13% higher.
In Hong Kong, shares in the financial sector were broadly lower on speculation Chinese banks will need to raise more capital.
China Construction Bank saw shares slump 1.2%, rival Bank of China saw shares slide 1.15%, while shares in China’s largest lender Industrial and Commercial Bank of China dropped 1.25%.
China’s State Council said earlier Thursday that the nation needed to implement “prudent” monetary policy and ensure stable prices.
Elsewhere, Japanese exporters performed strongly as the Federal Reserve’s Beige Book said that economic activity in the U.S. continued to improve over the last month.
Shares in the world’s largest digital camera maker Canon jumped 1.5%, shares in Nissan rose 1.55%, while Elpida Memory saw shares rally 5% after Deutsche Bank upgraded the stock.
Shares in Isuzu Motors jumped 6.15% amid speculation Europe’s largest automaker Volkswagen was considering buying all or part of the Japanese truckmaker.
Toshiba saw shares climb 2% after the company’s President Norio Sasaki said it may report full-year net income that was higher than what it had forecast in January.
However, shares in Nomura Holdings fell 1.2% after Credit Suisse cut its rating on the stock to ‘neutral’ from ‘outperform’, citing poor valuations and likely unfavorable earnings.
The outlook for European equity markets, meanwhile, was downbeat. The EURO STOXX 50 futures pointed to a loss of 0.1%, France’s CAC 40 futures slumped 1.2%, the FTSE 100 futures edged 0.05% lower, while Germany's DAX futures shed 0.08%.
Later in the day, the European Central Bank was to release its monthly bulletin while the U.S. was to publish government data on initial jobless claims and producer price inflation.
During late Asian trade, Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index shed 0.45%, South Korea's Kospi Composite climbed 0.9%, while Japan’s Nikkei 225 Index edged 0.13% higher.
In Hong Kong, shares in the financial sector were broadly lower on speculation Chinese banks will need to raise more capital.
China Construction Bank saw shares slump 1.2%, rival Bank of China saw shares slide 1.15%, while shares in China’s largest lender Industrial and Commercial Bank of China dropped 1.25%.
China’s State Council said earlier Thursday that the nation needed to implement “prudent” monetary policy and ensure stable prices.
Elsewhere, Japanese exporters performed strongly as the Federal Reserve’s Beige Book said that economic activity in the U.S. continued to improve over the last month.
Shares in the world’s largest digital camera maker Canon jumped 1.5%, shares in Nissan rose 1.55%, while Elpida Memory saw shares rally 5% after Deutsche Bank upgraded the stock.
Shares in Isuzu Motors jumped 6.15% amid speculation Europe’s largest automaker Volkswagen was considering buying all or part of the Japanese truckmaker.
Toshiba saw shares climb 2% after the company’s President Norio Sasaki said it may report full-year net income that was higher than what it had forecast in January.
However, shares in Nomura Holdings fell 1.2% after Credit Suisse cut its rating on the stock to ‘neutral’ from ‘outperform’, citing poor valuations and likely unfavorable earnings.
The outlook for European equity markets, meanwhile, was downbeat. The EURO STOXX 50 futures pointed to a loss of 0.1%, France’s CAC 40 futures slumped 1.2%, the FTSE 100 futures edged 0.05% lower, while Germany's DAX futures shed 0.08%.
Later in the day, the European Central Bank was to release its monthly bulletin while the U.S. was to publish government data on initial jobless claims and producer price inflation.