Asia report: Markets mixed, Kakao Pay soars on Seoul debut
Markets were mixed at the close in Asia on Wednesday, as investors digested the latest data on China’s services sector, while South Korea’s latest tech stock rocketed on its debut.
In Japan, traders enjoyed a mid-week break for the ‘Culture Day’ public holiday, as the yen strengthened 0.06% on the dollar to last trade at JPY 113.89.
On the mainland, the Shanghai Composite was down 0.2% at 3,498.54, and the smaller, technology-heavy Shenzhen Composite went the other way, advancing 0.06% to 2,393.60.
Fresh data out of Beijing showed growth in China’s services sector in October, with the private Caixin/Markit services purchasing managers’ index coming in at 53.8 for the month.
That was up from the 53.4 level in September, and well above the 50-point mark that separates expansion from contraction.
The official non-manufacturing PMI was also on the positive side of the ledger, coming in at 52.4, although that was down on the 53.2 reported for September.
It was not as positive a picture for manufacturing, after the official manufacturing PMI fell below the waterline to 49.2 in October.
“Breaking down the value added in industry data, our estimates indicate that heavy industry has slowed down much more than other industrial sectors through September,” said Oxford Economics head of Asian economics Louis Kuijs.
“While electricity shortages and production cuts played a role, the steady slowdown in heavy industry in recent months is likely largely because of the downturn in the real estate sector, which has strong backward linkages to heavy industry.”
South Korea’s Kospi was 1.25% weaker by the end of trading in Seoul at 2,975.71, while the Hang Seng Index in Hong Kong slipped 0.3% to 25,024.75.
Payments technology firm Kakao Pay closed at KRW 193,000 after its debut session on the Korean peninsula, more than doubling from their price of KRW 90,000 at the initial public offering.
Its stablemates in the Kakao internet conglomerate were mixed, however, with Kakao Games rising 3.01%, while Kakao Bank sank 7.33% and Kakao Corporation itself was 2.73% weaker.
The established blue-chip tech stocks were weaker in Korea, however, with Samsung Electronics down 1.54% and SK Hynix losing 1.86%.
Oil prices were lower at the end of the Asian day, with Brent crude last down 1.68% at $83.30 per barrel, and West Texas Intermediate losing 1.97% to $82.26.
In Australia, the S&P/ASX 200 advanced 0.93% to 7,392.70, while across the Tasman Sea in New Zealand, the S&P/NZX 50 was 0.1% firmer at 12,993.83.
The down under dollars were both stronger on the greenback, with the Aussie last head 0.13% at AUD 1.3441, and the Kiwi advancing 0.38% to NZD 1.4007.