Japanese Stocks Outperform; Chinese Data Disappoints

Major Asia-Pac equity indices are mixed, with Chinese and Hong Kong equity index benchmarks whipping from gains to losses as an initial bid from the PBoC’s cut to the MLF rate was countered by weak Chinese activity data for July (fleshed out elsewhere).

• The Hang Seng index is off its extremes, sitting 0.3% worse off at typing. The property (-0.6%) and finance (-0.7%) sub-indices contributed the most to losses, neutralising shallow gains in consumer and industrial stocks as sentiment in China’s property sector remains weak (with Chinese new home prices for July falling for an 11th straight month).
• The Chinese CSI300 deals 0.1% weaker at typing, erasing gains of as much as 0.7% earlier on the aforementioned miss in Chinese activity indicators, mainly on weakness in richly-valued sectors such as consumer staples and healthcare. Elsewhere, the tech-heavy ChiNext (+1.1%) was an outlier, with a strong showing from heavyweight CATL Ltd (+3.3%, after having announced plans for a ~$7.6bn car battery plant in Hungary with Mercedes-Benz Group AG) offsetting weakness across more than half of the index’s constituents.
• The Nikkei 225 leads gains amongst regional peers, dealing 1.0% firmer at typing, putting the benchmark narrowly in the green (+0.1%) for the YTD, outperforming most major Asian benchmarks (MSCI Asia Pacific Index ~-15% YTD). Large-caps and major exporters lead gains in the index, with the broader TOPIX (+0.5%) lagging.
• E-minis trade 0.2% lower apiece at typing, operating a little shy of their respective multi-month highs made on Friday.