Asia: Record US market gains boost Asian shares, Chinese stocks continue to slip

Asian shares traded higher on Wednesday, taking the lead from Wall Street where shares closed at a record level overnight.

The Dow Jones finished over 18,000 for the first time after data showed the US economy grew at its fastest pace in 11 years in the third quarter. This momentum helped Japan's Nikkei gain 1.2% to 17,854.23 points.

Meanwhile in China, stocks slipped for a second day, their biggest two-day loss since June 2013, amid speculation the government is taking measures to cool the world’s best-performing major stock market over the past month.

The Shanghai Composite Index fell 2% to 2,972.53 at the close, after plunging 3% yesterday.

The securities regulator this month cautioned investors on buying shares and started inspecting some brokerages’ margin finance businesses.

A 17% rally since the end of November, spurred by policy easing speculation, has driven valuations to three-year highs as technical indicators signalled overbought conditions.

“There’s profit taking after a recent rally,” Zhang Yanbing, an analyst at Zheshang Securities said in Shanghai. “Financial stocks have risen a lot recently so they’re correcting now. News-wise, it’s very quiet.”

The benchmark index was down 2.8% to 2,948.28, while the Hang Seng finished up 0.1% to 23,349.34 in a half trading day.

Citic Securities and Haitong Securities, China’s biggest security firms, both slumped 9% as data showed new stock-trading accounts dropped 29% last week. Some brokerages raised the threshold for margin trading and short selling to control risks, the 21st Century Business Herald reported.

“While the stock market is extremely hot now, the question remains if such strong trading volumes will continue,” said Tang Yayun, a Shanghai-based analyst at Northeast Securities Co. “This is a risk that we need to watch.”

China Construction Bank Corp and developer China Vanke Co. slumped more than 5% to drag down financial shares by the most among industry groups.

Sony's shares were up 4% after its Hollywood studio said it would screen comedy The Interview in some US cinemas on Christmas day after initially cancelling the release.

Shares of Hyundai Motor jumped as much as over 4% on hopes that the automaker would raise its dividend payouts.

The Hong Kong and South Korean markets will be closed for the Christmas holiday on Thursday. However, the Chinese and Japanese markets will remain open for trading.