Asia: Hang Seng down but Shanghai up as traders return from holiday
Updated : 10:31
Hong Kong's Hang Seng index reversed its three-day winning run overnight as traders lost confidence after a sell-off in Europe and the United States caused by lower forecasts for global economic growth.
However, after reopening after a week-long national holiday, Chinese indices closed higher, with the Shanghai composite index hitting a new 19-month high, up 0.8% on the day.
This was despite the International Monetary Fund (IMF) cutting its forecast for global growth to 3.3% this year and 3.8% in 2015, from the 3.4% and 4% it had respectively forecast in July.
In its latest world outlook, the IMF predicted that growth in China will drop from 7.4% this year to 7.1% next year.
The global view is that a stronger US economy and a steady, if weak, European recovery will offset the 0.3% point slowdown in China.
Overnight we also saw declining numbers from China's services and retail sectors.
The September services and composite purchasing managers index (PMI) both fell: the services PMI came in at 53.5, down from 54.1 in August, while the composite PMI declined to 52.3 from 52.8 in August.
China’s Golden Week holiday period saw retail-sales growth slow to 12.1% from 13.6% in the year before, according to data from the Ministry of Commerce on Wednesday.
The week-long holiday, the equivalent of Christmas or Thanksgiving in the West, was expected to see rising retail sales.
Over the South China Sea, the Nikkei closed down 1.19% as Japan prepares to welcome its largest initial public offering in the new millennium as staffing group Recruit Holdings saw enough demand to price the issue at the top end of its potential range.
The company's flotation has been priced at 3,100 yen ($28) a share, which will give at a market value of 1.78trn yen.
The company is focusing on overseas operations for medium- to long-term growth, with President Masumi Minegishi saying Recruit "aims to become the world's number-one player in the human resources area", according to the Nikkei Asian Review.