Mainland Chinese markets tumble more than 2%, leading losses in mixed Asia trading day
Mainland China continues to grapple with its most severe Covid wave since the initial outbreak in 2020.
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SINGAPORE — Shares in Asia-Pacific were mixed on Thursday as investors continued to watch China's Covid situation along with moves in the Japanese yen.
Chinese stocks led losses regionally, with the Shanghai composite shedding 2.26% to 3,079.81 while the Shenzhen component fell 2.703% to 11,084.28.
Shares of Chinese oil firm CNOOC, however, soared more than 27% from their issue price as they made their Shanghai debut. CNOOC's Hong Kong-listed shares, on the other hand, declined 2.51%.
Hong Kong's Hang Seng index slipped 1.25% to close at 20,682.22.
Investors watched for signs of policy support from Chinese authorities as the mainland continues to grapple with its most severe Covid wave since the initial outbreak in 2020. Its strict zero-Covid policy has raised questions about China's economic outlook.
China remains "well-positioned to further stimulate growth," especially when inflation is "not really an issue" currently in the country, said Thomas Rupf, head of trading execution and chief investment officer Asia at VP Bank in Singapore.
"The main priority is clearly now on the Covid side," Rupf told CNBC's "Squawk Box Asia" on Thursday. "We expect over the next few months, more targeted measures also on the infrastructure side and they still have room to also reduce rates slightly as well."
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The Nikkei 225 in Japan gained 1.23% on the day to 27,553.06 while the Topix index advanced 0.67% to 1,928. South Korea's Kospi climbed 0.35% to close at 2,728.21.
In Australia, the S&P/ASX 200 nudged 0.31% higher to end the trading day at 7,592.80.
MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan shed 0.37%.
Yen watch
The Japanese yen traded at 128.13 per dollar after strengthening from levels above 129 against the greenback yesterday.
Still, the Japanese currency remains weaker as compared with levels below 126 seen against the dollar last week. The yen has struggled for weeks against the dollar amid expectations the Bank of Japan will be slower in normalizing monetary policy than the U.S. Federal Reserve.
"Buying on dips will remain the theme so long as the Fed retains its hawkish rhetoric, and the BOJ continues with its unlimited bond-buying," OCBC Treasury Research's Frances Cheung and Terence Wu wrote in a Thursday note.
The U.S. dollar index, which tracks the greenback against a basket of its peers, was at 99.952 following a recent drop from around 101.
The Australian dollar changed hands at $0.7451, still higher than levels below $0.736 seen earlier this week.
Oil prices were higher in the afternoon of Asia trading hours, with international benchmark Brent crude futures up 1.65% to $108.56 per barrel. U.S. crude futures climbed 1.51% to $103.73 per barrel.
