Taiwan's Taiex jumps 1% as Asia-Pacific markets trade mixed; Tencent shares plunge nearly 4%

Stocks on Wall Street rose overnight stateside, bouncing back after three straight days of losses.

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May 21, 2021 - 10:58
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Taiwan's Taiex jumps 1% as Asia-Pacific markets trade mixed; Tencent shares plunge nearly 4%

SINGAPORE — Shares in Asia-Pacific traded mixed on Friday following an overnight bounce on Wall Street.

The Taiex in Taiwan led gains among the region's major markets, jumping 1.15% in afternoon trade. India's Nifty 50 also saw robust gains, rising 1.04%.

Mainland Chinese markets were also higher, with the Shanghai composite down 0.45% while the Shenzhen component slipped 0.518%.

In Hong Kong, the Hang Seng index edged 0.21% lower. Shares of Tencent in Hong Kong dropped 3.86% by Friday afternoon, despite the Chinese tech behemoth posting a 65% surge in its quarterly profit on Thursday.

Japan's Nikkei 225 rose 0.81% in afternoon trade while the Topix index gained 0.42%. South Korea's Kospi shed 0.28%.

Meanwhile in Australia, the S&P/ASX 200 was largely flat.

MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan were little changed.

Overnight stateside, the S&P 500 gained around 1.1% to 4,159.12 while the Nasdaq Composite surged 1.77% to 13,535.74. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 188.11 points to 34,084.15. Those gains on Wall Street came on the back of three straight days of losses.

Currencies and oil

The U.S. dollar index, which tracks the greenback against a basket of its peers, was at 89.781 — off levels above 90 seen earlier in the week.

The Japanese yen traded at 108.82 per dollar, stronger than levels above 109.2 against the greenback seen earlier this week. The Australian dollar changed hands at $0.7756 following a recent rise from around $0.772.

Oil prices were higher in the afternoon of Asia trading hours, with international benchmark Brent crude futures rising 0.28% to $65.29 per barrel. U.S. crude futures advanced 0.5% to $62.25 per barrel.