Mostly Lower In Asia; Alibaba, Mortgage Boycott Pulls Benchmarks Under

Major Asia-Pac equity indices are mostly flat to lower at typing, tracking a similar performance from Wall St.

• The Nikkei 225 bucked the broader trend of losses, dealing 0.6% firmer at writing. Index heavyweights Fast Retailing Co (+7.8%) and Nintendo Co (+2.9%) contributed the bulk of gains in the Nikkei, with the former surging after forecasting record profit for ‘22.
• The CSI300 sits a little below neutral levels at typing, with the miss in Q2 GDP figures provoking little lasting reaction in Chinese equity benchmarks. The financials (-1.4%) and property (-5.1%) sub-indices dragged the index lower for another day as the previously-flagged mortgage boycott in China continues to play out, neutralising outperformance in the consumer staples (+1.3%) and consumer discretionary (+1.7%) sub-gauges.
• The Hang Seng Index brings up the rear amongst regional peers, dealing 1.2% weaker at writing, with the financials (-1.3%) and property sub-indices (-1.2%) leading losses. China-based tech struggled, seeing the Hang Seng Tech Index deal 2.0% lower, with wider sentiment bruised by reports of an ongoing regulatory probe in large-cap Alibaba Group (-3.9%) over a data breach.
• U.S. e-minis sit 0.3% to 0.5% better off at typing, a little shy of their respective best levels made earlier in the session.