Investing.com – Asian stocks were mixed on Thursday, as shares in the financial sector led declines, while Japanese exporters remained under pressure from the strong yen.
During last Asian trade, Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index was up 0.35%, South Korea's Kospi Composite rose 0.23%, while Japan’s Nikkei 225 Index shed 0.05%.
Financial stocks led markets lower, amid concerns that financial regulations relating to large lenders would tighten. Shares in Japan’s largest bank Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group dropped 1.03%, rivals Mizuho Financial Group fell 0.83% and stocks of Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group, Japan’s second-largest lender, shed 0.63%.
Meanwhile, the yen’s ongoing strength against the U.S. dollar continued to weigh on Japanese exporters.
Shares in digital-camera makers Canon decreased 0.93%, Ricoh Company, Japan’s leading manufacturer of office equipment, tumbled 1.31%, while automakers Nissan saw its shares drop 1.48%.
Elsewhere, Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 eased down 0.04%, as shares in the world’s biggest recycler of scrap metal Sims Metal Management plummeted 7.22% after the company said first quarter net profit declined by 75% from a year-earlier.
But losses were limited as gold producer Dominion Mining saw its shares soar 15.75% after agreeing to a AUD 340 million takeover bid from Australia’s second-largest gold producer Kingsgate Consolidated, whose shares plummeted 9.39%.
Meanwhile, in Europe, equity markets were up after the open. The EURO STOXX 50 gained 0.31%, France’s CAC 40 added 0.42%, the FTSE 100 rose 0.50% and Germany's DAX was up 0.32%.
Later in the day, the U.S. was to release key weekly data on initial jobless claims, while the Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia was due to release a report on the city’s manufacturing sector.
During last Asian trade, Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index was up 0.35%, South Korea's Kospi Composite rose 0.23%, while Japan’s Nikkei 225 Index shed 0.05%.
Financial stocks led markets lower, amid concerns that financial regulations relating to large lenders would tighten. Shares in Japan’s largest bank Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group dropped 1.03%, rivals Mizuho Financial Group fell 0.83% and stocks of Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group, Japan’s second-largest lender, shed 0.63%.
Meanwhile, the yen’s ongoing strength against the U.S. dollar continued to weigh on Japanese exporters.
Shares in digital-camera makers Canon decreased 0.93%, Ricoh Company, Japan’s leading manufacturer of office equipment, tumbled 1.31%, while automakers Nissan saw its shares drop 1.48%.
Elsewhere, Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 eased down 0.04%, as shares in the world’s biggest recycler of scrap metal Sims Metal Management plummeted 7.22% after the company said first quarter net profit declined by 75% from a year-earlier.
But losses were limited as gold producer Dominion Mining saw its shares soar 15.75% after agreeing to a AUD 340 million takeover bid from Australia’s second-largest gold producer Kingsgate Consolidated, whose shares plummeted 9.39%.
Meanwhile, in Europe, equity markets were up after the open. The EURO STOXX 50 gained 0.31%, France’s CAC 40 added 0.42%, the FTSE 100 rose 0.50% and Germany's DAX was up 0.32%.
Later in the day, the U.S. was to release key weekly data on initial jobless claims, while the Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia was due to release a report on the city’s manufacturing sector.