Asian stocks fell broadly on Thursday as weakness in tech stocks following the overnight pullback by the tech-heavy Nasdaq overshadowed positive manufacturing data from China.
Chinese stocks fell as investors booked some profits in recent outperformers. The benchmark Shanghai Composite Index dropped 20.28 points or 0.6 percent to 3,317.58, while Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index tumbled 446.48 points or 1.5 percent to 29,177.35.
The manufacturing sector in China expanded at a faster pace in November, the National Bureau of Statistics said with a PMI score of 51.8. That beat forecasts for 51.4 and was up from 51.6 in October.
Australian shares retreated, dragged down by banks after the government said it will hold a royal commission inquiry into its banking and financial sector. Investors largely ignored encouraging building approvals and private sector credit data.
The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 Index dropped 41.22 points or 0.7 percent to 5,969.89, while the broader All Ordinaries index ended down 36.90 points or 0.6 percent at 6,059.20.
Lender ANZ lost 1.1 percent and Commonwealth fell 1.9 percent, and mining heavyweights BHP Billiton and Rio Tinto ended down over 1 percent each. Gold miners Evolution Mining, Regis Resources and Newcrest tumbled 2-3 percent.
Gaming machine maker Aristocrat Leisure slumped 6.8 percent after it agreed to buy Seattle-based Big Fish Games for $990 million in cash. AWE soared as much as 23 percent after a Chinese state-owned company made a $430 million takeover offer for the oil and gas group.
Meanwhile, Japanese shares hit a three-week high as the dollar firmed up against the yen and gains in the financial sector offset weakness in tech shares. There were also hopes that the Bank of Japan will buy more exchange-traded funds.
The Nikkei 225 Index climbed 127.76 points or 0.6 percent to finish at 22,724.96, while the broader Topix index closed 0.3 percent higher at 1,792.08.
Banks Mitsubishi UFJ Financial, Mizuho Financial and Sumitomo Mitsui Financial rose about 1 percent each, and brokerage Nomura Holdings jumped more than 3 percent. Semiconductor equipment manufacturer Tokyo Electron declined 1.1 percent.
Shares of Oriental Land Co. jumped 3.6 percent on a Nikkei report that the operator of Tokyo Disneyland will invest more than 300 billion yen, or $2.7 billion, to upgrade and expand its resort in Japan.
On the economic front, Japanese industrial production returned to growth in October. but the pace of growth fell short of estimates, a government report showed. Housing starts fell more than expected during the month.
