Asian stocks traded mixed Thursday, with China stocks leading losses as several major markets resumed trading after New Year’s Day holiday.
Markets in Japan and New Zealand were shuttered for holiday.
In Hong Kong, the Hang Seng index slumped 436.63 points, or 2.2%, to 19,623.32. Shares of Sun Art Retail Group plunged over 23%, a day after Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba Group announced to sell its majority stake in the hypermarket chain. Alibaba was down over 1%.
Korean markets opened one hour later than usual, due to an opening ceremony for the new year.
Rhee Chang-yong, the country’s central bank governor, said in a New Year’s speech released Thursday that monetary policy will be “managed with flexibility and agility” given the “unprecedented rise in political and economic uncertainties.
The Bank of Korea, which has delivered back-to-back rate cuts — a first since 2009 — is set to to announce its next interest rate decision later this month.
CHINA
The CSI 300 fell 114.51 points, or 2.9%, to 3,820.40. The broad market slump on its first trading day in 2025 came despite President Xi Jinping’s vow during his New Year address on Tuesday evening to implement more proactive policies to support economic growth.
The offshore yuan strengthened by 0.14% to trade at 7.3224 against the dollar, regaining some ground after notching its weakest level since 2022 October on Tuesday.
China’s Caixin/S&P Global manufacturing purchasing managers’ index for December fell to 50.5, missing economists’ forecast of 51.7 in a Reuters poll. PMI came in at 51.5 in November and 50.3 in October.
The fall in the PMI figure indicates the “pace of growth [had] eased since November and was marginal overall,” the report said.
The official PMI for December, released Tuesday, came in at 50.1 and missed expectations.
In other markets,
In Singapore, the Straits Times index gained 13.21 points, or 0.4%, to 3,800,81
In Korea, the Kospi index slipped 0.55 points to 2,398.94,
In Taiwan, the Taiex index gave back 203.04 points, or 0.9%, to 22,832.06.
In Australia, the ASX 200 picked up 42.1 points, or 0.5%, to 8,201.24.