Mostly Lower In Asia; Chinese Developers Resume Slide

Most major Asia-Pac equity indices are lower at typing on the back of a negative lead from Wall St., with Japanese stocks narrowly bucking the broader trend of losses.

• The Hang Seng brings up the rear amongst peers, dealing 1.6% softer at typing, seeing the property sub-index (-2.6%) lead the way lower after an announced ~$361mn share placement by Chinese developer Country Garden Holdings (-14.0%) raised worry re: wider liquidity worries in the sector. Large-cap Alibaba Group (-3.8%) was among the Hang Seng’s worst performers, erasing the bulk of its 4.8% move higher on Tuesday, with the HSTECH (-1.7%) underperforming as well.
• The Nikkei 225 trades 0.1% higher at typing, with the broader TOPIX index sitting a shade above neutral levels. Semiconductor and pharmaceuticals lead gains in the index, offsetting weakness in energy and retailers (with large-cap Fast Retailing sitting 1.3% weaker at typing).
• The ASX200 has pared its pre-CPI decline of as much as 0.4% to sit a shade below neutral levels at writing, with the financials sub-index (+0.6%) hitting seven-week highs after reversing earlier losses, contributing to outperformance in the healthcare (+1.3%) and consumer staples (+0.6%) sub-indices. Tech-related equities struggled, with the S&P/ASX All Tech Index trading 0.7% lower, tracking some of the weakness in U.S. tech stocks on Tuesday.
• E-minis deal 0.3% to 1.4% firmer apiece, off best levels, but holding on to the bulk of its gains observed after Google and Microsoft’s earnings beat after the bell on Tuesday.