Asia-Pacific Stocks Experience Mixed Performance

The Asia-Pacific stock market saw a mix of gains and losses on Friday, Feb. 9. Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index experienced its third consecutive day of decline, while the Japanese market showed a second day of increases.

Hong Kong

The Hang Seng Index (HSI) fell by 0.8% to 15,746.58. Among its constituents, Anta Sports Products (2020) saw the largest increase, with shares rising by 1.6%. Conversely, marine transport company Orient Overseas Intl (316) experienced the largest decrease, with shares dropping by 8.5%. Property managers firm Country Garden Svcs (6098) and real estate services/transactions company Longfor Group Holdings (960) also saw a decline of 6.7% each.

Japan

The Nikkei 225 Index of Japanese companies (NIK) increased slightly by 0.1% to reach 36,897.42. Notably, wires/cables company Fujikura Ltd (5803) saw the largest increase, with shares skyrocketing by 23.8%. Mobile telecommunications firm SoftBank Group (9984) and furniture/home furnishings retailing company Nitori Holdings (9843) also performed well, with both experiencing an increase of 8.7% and 8.2% respectively. On the other hand, games software company NEXON (3659) had the largest decline, with shares plunging by 11.7%. Passenger cars firm Nissan Motor (7201) and photographic equipment company Nikon Corp. (7731) also saw a decrease in their share prices at 11.6% and 7.2% respectively.

Other Markets

In Singapore, the FTSE Straits Times Index (STI) declined by 0.1% to reach 3,138.30. Meanwhile, the China Shanghai Stock Exchange was closed, and South Korea's Korea Exchange remained closed as well. In Australia, the S&P/ASX 200 Benchmark Index (XJO) saw a slight increase of 0.1% to reach 7,644.80.