Chinese stocks slipped Tuesday, with casino operators skidding in Hong Kong and property stocks falling on the mainland, while Japanese blue chips also lost ground in a mostly range-bound session for Asian markets.
Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index HK:HSI -0.95% declined 0.8%, while the Shanghai Composite Index CN:000001 -1.60% fell 1.1%.
Japan’s blue-chip Nikkei Stock Average JP:100000018 -0.31% slipped 0.3% to pare a 2.1% gain made in the previous session.
Elsewhere in Asia, the picture was only modestly brighter, as South Korea’s Kospi KR:SEU +0.20% gained 0.1%, Singapore’s Straits Times Index SG:STI +0.15% added 0.1%, Taiwan’s Taiex XX:Y9999 +0.22% rose 0.2%, and Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 index AU:XJO +0.37% edged up 0.4% to build on a near four-and-a-half-year high reached in the previous session.
“Investors [are] struggling to rediscover the bullish tone that has pushed many regional indices to multiyear highs,” said Perpetual Investments investment market research chief Matthew Sherwood.
Wall Street remained closed Monday for the Presidents Day holiday, with U.S. stock futures pointing to a mildly higher start to trading Tuesday, though action was also choppy.
Nasdaq 100 futures NDH3 -0.03% were up 1.75 points, while Dow Jones Industrial Average futures DJH3 -0.01% rose 7 points and S&P 500 futures SPH3 -0.09% climbed 0.80 points. Read: U.S. stock futures edge up as yen falls
Major movers
In Hong Kong, casino operators saw some big losses, with Hang Seng Index component Sands China Ltd. HK:1928 -4.35% SCHYY +2.49% dropping 4.1%, and non-component Galaxy Entertainment Group Ltd. HK:27 -4.88% GXYEY -0.38% shedding 4.9%.
Analysts at Deutsche Bank said that, while Macau gaming stocks have already risen by around 15% since the start of the year on average, gaming revenue figures to date for February suggest that revenue may only rise 2% year-on-year in the month. Such a result, they said, would fall below market expectations for a 10% year-on-year rise.
“This may be partly luck-driven and partly due to less direct VIP play at Melco Crown Entertainment Ltd. MPEL -0.67% , which is under Taiwan investigation,” the strategists said. “The market may react negatively to soft Chinese New Year VIP data,” they added.
Still, the strategists said that if share prices sell off further due to anti-corruption statements made at or around the National People’s Congress on March 5, for example, “we think that will be a good buying opportunity for investors with 6-12 month horizons, as VIP [gambling] accounts for only 30% of adjusted operating profit (Ebitda).”
Elsewhere, shares of SCMP Group Ltd. HK:583 -8.37% , publisher of the South China Morning Post newspaper, fell 6.5% after the firm said that it was in talks over making an acquisition.
SCMP shares have risen more than 23% year-to-date, however, after reports speculating that the firm could be taken private by shareholder Kerry Media Ltd, controlled by Malaysian billionaire Robert Kuok,
On the Chinese mainland, property companies were losing ground, with Gemdale Corp. CN:600383 -7.85% down 6.3% and Poly Real Estate Group Co. CN:600048 -5.05% down 4.5%. Broker Citic Securities Co. CN:600030 -3.07% fell 2.6%.
Local governments in China have been moving to tighten homebuyers’ access to credit.
Marketwatch
