SINGAPORE — Major Asia-Pacific markets closed mixed on Wednesday, while shares of China’s most indebted property developer Evergrande and some of its units soared.
Meanwhile, oil stocks in the region jumped on the back of higher oil prices.
Chinese markets were muted. The Shanghai composite closed just above the flatline to 3,532.62, while the Shenzhen component was down 0.24% to 15,021.17. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index rose 0.21% in the final hour of trade.
Shares of China Evergrande jumped more than 8% in the afternoon, after the company said in a filing that it was in discussions to sell stakes in its units which include Evergrande Property Services and Evergrande New Energy Vehicle Group.
Shares of Evergrande Property Services surged more than 12% in the afternoon, while the new energy vehicle unit soared more than 11%.
Japan’s Nikkei 225 climbed 0.65% to close at 28,070.51, while the Topix jumped nearly 1% to 1,954.08. South Korea’s Kospi dipped 0.7% to 3,220.62.
The S&P/ASX 200 in Australia was up 0.29% to close at 7,584.30.
Energy stocks gain on higher oil prices
New records on Wall Street
Stocks on Wall Street shot to new records, boosted by the Senate’s passing of a $1 trillion infrastructure package.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 162.82 points to 35,264.67 to close at a record. The S&P 500 rose 0.1% to 4,436.75 and closed at a fresh all-time high.
The Senate’s infrastructure plan, which includes $550 billion in new spending on transportation and broadband, is expected to help give the economy a boost as peak growth slows following the reopening from the pandemic.
Currencies
The U.S. dollar index, which tracks the greenback against a basket of its peers, rose to 93.164, from levels above 92.9 yesterday.
The Japanese yen traded at 110.76, weaker than levels around 110.4 the day before.
The Australian dollar changed hands at $0.7327, a touch lower than levels above $0.734 seen yesterday.
— CNBC’s Yen Nee Lee, Maggie Fitzgerald and Tanaya Macheel contributed to this report.
Source: CNBC