Mostly Higher In Asia; Chinese, Hong Kong Benchmarks Outperform

Major Asia-Pac equity indices are flat to 1.5% better off at typing, bucking a mixed lead from Wall St. that saw the tech-heavy NASDAQ close in the red.

• The Hang Seng leads the way higher, sitting 1.5% firmer on gains in the real estate (+1.6%) and finance (+1.5%) sub-indices. China-based tech ticked higher as well (HSTECH: +1.6%), led by Alibaba Group (+6.0%) after it announced plans to pursue a dual primary listing in Hong Kong and the U.S., potentially allowing the company to apply for the Stock Connect scheme as well.
• The CSI300 deals 0.9% firmer, led by gains in industrials and real estate. The CSI300 Real Estate Index trades 5.4% higher at typing, surging to two-week highs after a RTRS source report on Monday pointed to China potentially planning to launch a $44bn fund aimed at rescuing property developers. The CSI300 however trades a little above fresh six-week lows made on Monday, with the benchmark index shedding ~5.9% for July thus far.
• The Nikkei 225 sits a little below neutral levels at typing, back from trading as much as 0.6% lower as weakness in the healthcare and IT sectors neutralised a rally in energy-related equities, as well as gains from index heavyweight Softbank Group (which deals 3.5% firmer after news of Alibaba’s dual primary listing plans).
• E-minis sit 0.3% worse off apiece at writing, off session lows, with the wider fallout from Walmart’s disappointing earnings guidance seeing the contracts struggle to break above neutral levels throughout Asia-Pac dealing.