Asia report: Most markets rise, US adds firms to China blacklist

Most markets in Asia finished in the green on Friday, even as the Pentagon in the US added more Chinese companies to its blacklist of allegedly military-linked organisations.

In Japan, the Nikkei 225 was down 0.22% at 26,751.24, as the yen weakened 0.18% against the dollar to last trade at JPY 104.03.

Of the major components on the benchmark index, automation specialist Fanuc was down 0.82%, fashion firm Fast Retailing lost 1.43%, and technology conglomerate SoftBank Group was 1.64% weaker.

The broader Topix index managed gains of 0.04% by the end of trading on Friday, closing at 1,775.94.

On the mainland, the Shanghai Composite rose 0.07% to 3,444.58, and the smaller, technology-heavy Shenzhen Composite was 0.5% higher at 2,301.83.

South Korea’s Kospi was ahead 1.31% at 2,731.45, while the Hang Seng Index in Hong Kong gained 0.4% to 26,835.92.

Chinese oil company CNOOC and chipmaker SMIC were both added to the US blacklist, seeing their Hong Kong shares plunge 3.9% and 5.41%, respectively.

E-commerce giant JD.com was ahead 2.41%, after reports that JD Logistics was calling for banks to pitch for an initial public offering worth up to $3bn.

Earlier in the week, the company’s healthcare unit JD Health raised $3.5bn in an IPO in Hong Kong, with trading in those shares expected to begin on Tuesday.

The blue-chip technology stocks were stronger in Seoul, with Samsung Electronics up 2.58% and SK Hynix adding 3.14%.

The Covid-19 situation was at the top of the agenda for traders once more, with reports that US drugmaker Pfizer would only ship half of the coronavirus vaccines it had originally planned for 2020.

According to the Wall Street Journal, the company had planned to ship 100 million jabs this year, but some early batches of raw materials did not meet quality standards.

Pfizer has said that it was planning to ship 50 million vaccines by the end of 2020, and up to 1.3 billion doses by the end of 2021.

“US markets had a somewhat mixed session, slipping back from its intraday peaks on reports of supply chain issues at Pfizer with respect to the new vaccine,” said CMC Markets chief market analyst Michael Hewson.

“This seems a little bit of an overreaction given that supply chain issues tend to be temporary in nature, and generally easily resolvable.

“Asia markets have finished another positive week, slightly on the back foot, but nonetheless the mood in Asia is much more upbeat than it was a couple of weeks ago, especially with the Chinese economy continuing to maintain its recent momentum.”

Oil prices were higher as the region entered the weekend, with Brent crude last up 0.92% at $49.16 per barrel, and West Texas Intermediate ahead 0.88% at $46.04.

In Australia, the S&P/ASX 200 added 0.28% to 6,634.10, as fresh data out of Canberra showed the country’s retail turnover rising 1.4% month-on-month on a seasonally-adjusted basis for October.

Across the Tasman Sea, New Zealand’s S&P/NZX 50 was 0.14% weaker at 12,631.38, although cinema technology company Vista Group was up 2.87% after it confirmed the acquisition of the remaining 50% of Cinema Intelligence from its founder.

Both of the down under dollars were weaker on the greenback, with the Aussie last off 0.31% at AUD 1.3479 and the Kiwi retreating 0.47% to NZD 1.4196.