SINGAPORE Shares in Asia-Pacific were mostly lower in Thursday morning trade as investors reacted to the release of Chinese industrial profits data for April.
Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index dipped 0.6%. Shares of Xiaomi in Hong Kong jumped more than 2% in Thursday morning trade after the Chinese smartphone maker on Wednesday reported a nearly 55% surge in its first quarter revenue as compared with the same period a year earlier.
Mainland Chinese stocks were lower in early trade, with the Shanghai composite shedding 0.33% while the Shenzhen component declined 0.493%.
Industrial profits in China soared 57% year-on-year in April, the National Bureau of Statistics said Thursday.
The Nikkei 225 in Japan slipped 0.82% while the Topix index declined 0.49%. Over in South Korea, the Kospi fell 0.68%.
Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 hovered above the flatline.
MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan traded 0.57% lower.
The U.S. dollar index, which tracks the greenback against a basket of its peers, was at 90.177 following a recent climb from below 89.7.
The Japanese yen traded at 109.17 per dollar, weaker than levels below 108.9 against the greenback seen yesterday. The Australian dollar was at $0.7728, as compared to levels above $0.777 seen yesterday.
Oil prices were lower in the morning of Asia trading hours, with international benchmark Brent crude futures slipping about 0.4% to $68.60 per barrel. U.S. crude futures shed 0.44% to $65.92 per barrel.
