Asian stock indexes ended trading with mixed changes, reacting to corporate news. Japan's Nikkei 225 gained 0.5%, supported by gains by JTEKT Corp. (+5.6%), Nissui Corp. (+4.5%), Yokogawa Electric (+4.4%), Sony Group (+2.8%) and Toyota Motor (+1.8%). Lasertec (-4.3%), Mercari (-3.1%) and Disco Corp. (-2.1%) lost in value. China's Shanghai Composite declined 0.2%, with declines from Wuhan P&S Information Technology (-12.2%), Seres Group (-3.8%), Anhui Jianghuai (-4.4%) and Sichuan Changhong Electric (-3.5%). The total profit of large industrial companies in China in January-July increased by 3.6% to 4,099 trillion yuan. PetroChina rose 3% in Shanghai and 4.1% in Hong Kong after posting record financial statements. Hong Kong's Hang Seng rose 0.4%, supported by growth of Trip.com Group (+9.1%) after strong quarterly reporting. The tour operator's net profit increased 6 times, and revenue increased by 14%. Alibaba Group Holding lost 4% in value. South Korea's Kospi fell 0.3% under pressure from shares of SK Hynix (-2.6%) and Samsung Electronics (-0.4%). SK Innovation rose 3.1% after approval of the merger with SK E&S. The Australian S&P/ASX 200 fell by 0.16%, mainly due to a drop in Jones Lyng Group shares (-27.1%) after weak reporting. Yancoal Australia, Commonwealth Bank and National Australia Bank also lost in value, while BHP Group, Woodside Energy and Coles Group showed gains.
PAUTAN SEGERA