The Hong Kong stock market retreated on Monday due to investor concerns about the recently failed peace talks between Iran and the United States, while Tokyo's Nikkei benchmark brushed off similar concerns and managed another record high close, finishing above the 60,000-point line for the first time.
Hong Kong's stock market ended lower on the day with the benchmark Hang Seng Index down 0.2 percent to close at 25,925.65 points.
The Hang Seng China Enterprises Index dipped 0.22 percent to end at 8,756.32 points, while the Hang Seng Tech Index rose 0.77 percent to 4,939.84 points.
Timothy Pope, a market analyst for China Global Television Network (CGTN), recapped a mixed trading day in Asia.
"The fact that peace talks have once again failed to even get started kept a lid on market sentiment around the region. The Hang Seng in particular had a fairly muted session. Initially it had been trading higher like the Shanghai Composite, but then it slipped a bit lower in the afternoon to close about 0.2 percent lower. On the other hand, the Hang Seng Tech index was up around 1 percent, very much mirroring what we saw on the Chinese mainland with the STAR 50. China's biggest chip maker SMIC was the Hang Seng's top gainer -- it added about 6.1 percent. We saw smart phone supplier Sunny Optical at number two, and EV giant BYD also performing very strongly, with a 4.7 percent gain. But tech stocks really were bucking the overall trend today, which was a downward one. We are expecting BYD's next earnings report on Wednesday, I think, and there are some mixed predictions about what we could see there -- from a real downgrade in net profit to something that looks a little bit more resilient, underpinned by some strong overseas performance," Pope said.
"Over in Tokyo it was all about corporate earnings today as investors largely shrugged off the Middle East situation and kept their eyes on company financials. That pushed the Nikkei up 1.4 percent to close at a record 60,537.36 -- that's the first time the index has closed above that 60,000 level. It was helped along by Wall Street's high close on Friday. And we had, as we said, these key financial results coming out for a number of heavyweights on the Nikkei. The robot makers Keyance and industrial robot maker Fanuc -- they really, really shot up, I think, in one case around 16 percent, and provided a hell of a lot of momentum for that market today," he said.
Hong Kong stocks slip, Tokyo rallies amid Middle East sturbulence
