News

Asia-Pacific Stock Market Update

5.0

Clarence L. Polk

• February 21, 2024

Hong Kong and Japanese Markets Show Mixed Performance

In the Asia-Pacific region, stocks mostly climbed on Wednesday, February 21. The Japanese market experienced a third day of decreases, while shares in Hong Kong showed a positive trend for the second consecutive day.

Hong Kong Market Highlights

• Hang Seng Index: Increased by 1.6% to 16,503.10

  • Top Performers:
    • Longfor Group Holdings (HK:960): Saw the largest increase with shares up by 9.5%
    • Hang Seng Bank (HK:11): Increased by 9.1%
    • Ping An Insurance (HK:2318): Gained 6.4%
  • Worst Performer:
    • HSBC PLC (HK Reg) (HK:5): Declined by 3.8%

• Other Movers:

  • Chow Tai Fook Jewellery (HK:1929) and CNOOC (HK:883) declined by 2.0% and 1.3%, respectively

Japanese Market Insights

• Nikkei 225 Index: Fell by 0.3% to 38,262.16

  • Top Performer:
    • Aozora Bank (JP:8304): Saw the largest increase with a rise of 8.6%
  • Worst Performers:
    • Dowa Holdings (JP:5714): Declined the most with shares dropping by 3.9%
    • SMC (JP:6273) and Dai-ichi Life Holdings (JP:8750) weakened by 2.8% and 2.7%

• Other Performances:

  • Furukawa Electric (JP:5801) and Resonac Holdings (JP:4004) gained 5.0% and 4.3%, respectively

Regional Roundup

• Shanghai Composite Index: In China, gained 1.0% to 2,950.96
• FTSE Straits Times Index: Singapore stocks fell by 0.9% to 3,215.89
• KOSPI Composite Index: South Korean stocks declined by 0.2% to 2,653.31
• S&P/ASX 200 Benchmark Index: Australian stocks fell by 0.7% to 7,608.40