Investing.com — Most Asian stocks moved into a flat-to-low range on Friday after heavy losses this week as hawkish central bank cues and rising yields battered sentiment, although a recovery in technology stocks led the Hang Seng Hong Kong gave a boost.
Regional stocks saw some relief on Friday after US Treasury yields stalled somewhat in overnight trading after racing to multi-year highs earlier this week. Wall Street indexes closed higher on Thursday after a string of losses, providing some positive signals for Asian markets.
Holidays in China and South Korea kept trading volumes subdued on Friday.
The focus has now been on the key words – the Federal Reserve’s favorite inflation gauge – after aggressive signals from the central bank hit markets last week.
Hong Kong stock prices rise from 10-month lows amid bargain hunting
Hong Kong was the biggest benefactor of the bargain hunt, rising 2.1% after recovering from a 10-month low.
Heavyweight technology stocks were among the key drivers of the recovery, with Baidu Inc (NASDAQ:) (HK:), Alibaba.com Group Holding Ltd (HK:) (NYSE:) and Tencent Holdings Ltd (HK:) – China’s three big tech stocks – rose between 1.7% and 3%.
Investors rushed into heavily discounted Chinese stocks hoping the economy will get a much-needed boost from the weeklong Mid-Autumn Festival holiday, which starts today.
Hotel and department store operator New World Development Co Ltd (HK:) rose 4% in Hong Kong trading, while video game developer NetEase Inc (HK:) rose 4.8%.
Growing concerns about slowing Chinese growth and a crash in the real estate market led to steep losses in the Hang Seng last month. The index was 3.5% lower in September.
Asian stocks will suffer sharp losses in September
Broader Asian markets were largely subdued but headed for steep losses in September. Hawkish signals from the Federal Reserve, a spike in oil prices and a sharp sell-off in the global bond market roiled sentiment toward risk-driven markets.
Worsening sentiment towards China also roiled local stocks as fears of a property market crash mounted after embattled developer China Evergrande Group (HK:) has suspended all planned debt issuance due to a government investigation.
China and the indexes, which did not trade on Friday, each lost more than 1% in September.
The Australian index rose 0.4% on Friday but fell almost 3.5% in September, mainly hit by concerns about China.
Japan’s was flat on Friday, while the broader index fell 0.9%. Both indices fell between 1.8% and 2.2% in September, retreating from their highest levels in more than 30 years.
Data on Friday painted a mixed picture of Japan’s economy. grew less than expected in September, while it rose unexpectedly in August.
But the Japanese did not shrink as expected in August, while growing more than expected.
India and the indexes were the few outperformers in September, expected to rise more than 1% each after hitting record highs earlier this month. Nifty futures pointed to a slightly negative index for local stocks on Friday.
