Investors are watching tensions between China and the U.S. over the Taiwan issue following media reports that U.S. House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi will visit Taiwan.
—– The Nikkei in Tokyo closed at 27,594.73, down 398.62 or -1.42%, pressured by the biggest rise of the yen against the dollar in 2 months. The worst performers were Hino Motors-9.86%, Isetan Mitsukoshi Holdings-6.09%, and TOTO-5.07%. The best performers were TDK (+13.50%), Soijtz Corp (+5.24%), and Sumitomo Chemical (+3.39%).
—– In Australia, the S&P/ASX 200 closed at 6,998.10, up 5.10 or +0.07%, and the All Ordinaries closed at 7,216.40, up 3.40 or +0.05%, after the Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) announced a 0.50% rate hike today. The winners were Zip+15.09%, A2 Milk+7.93%, and St Barbara+5.17%. The losers were Appen Ltd-27.32%, United Malt-6.25%, and Champion Iron Ltd-5.42%.
—– The South Korean Composite (KOSPI) closed at 2,451.5, down 12.63 or -0.52%, while the won weakened against the US dollar. Shin Hwa Silup-6.47%, TYM-5.87%, and Namhae Chemical-5.59% were the worst performers. Hwacheon Machi (+16.17%), KCar (+13.04%) and Firstec (+11.88%) were the best performers.
—– China’s Shanghai Composite closed at 3,186.27, down 73.69 or -2.26%. The losers were Nanjing Toua Hardware Tools(-11.04%), Shenzhen Sunwin Intelligent(-10.49%), and Qingyan Environmental Technology(-10.27%). XiAn Tian He Defense+20%, Fujian Nebula Electronics+20%, and Jiangxi Yuean Advanced Materials+20% were the winners.
—– The Hang Seng in Hong Kong closed down 476.63 points or -2.36% at 19,689.21 points. The biggest losers were Blue River Holdings(-29%), SK Target(-23.44%) and SDM(-20.41%). The winners were LI Bao Ge+69.35%, New Ray Medicine Intl+33.12%, and China Environmental Tech and Bioenergy+23.79%.
—– Thai SET closed at 1,589.16 points, down 4.08 points or -0.26%. The losers were S. Pack and Print -10.26%, Thai-German Products -7.41%, and TRC Const. Action -6.67%. The top gainers were Wattanapat Trang Hospital+12.56%, Nonthavej Hospital+8.38%, and Advance Connection+3.27%.