Banking and technology equities lift Asia markets

Asian equities markets were mixed on Thursday, with Tokyo and Hong Kong seeing losses but Singapore, Taipei, and Sydney advancing on the day.

In Tokyo, banks and technology stocks were higher, and companies that were expecting to be awarded licenses to operate mobile phone services were up significantly, but exporters were mixed and profit taking sent the markets down overall.

The Nikkei 225 was off by 0.4 percent to 11,280.05. The Topix fell 0.1 percent to 1,148.85. In Hong Kong, the Hang Seng index was down 0.4 percent to 13,814.58 as property stocks were down on concerns over where real estate prices would go next year.

Investors were also showing caution ahead of several upcoming Chinese initial public offerings scheduled for Hong Kong. The Strait Times index in Singapore was up 0.7 percent to 2,191.55, near a 5-year high.

Banks went higher on optimism over the future of Singapore’s economy. Technology stocks were also higher. In Taipei, the weighted index gained 1.1 percent to 6,039.48 as shares in smaller technology companies went higher but larger technology firms saw losses.

In Sydney, meanwhile, the S&P/ASX 200 was up 0.8 percent to 4,180.7 as the energy and mining sectors both saw advances.

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