The stock market indices of the Asia-Pacific region are mainly declining, although the Japanese indicator shows strong growth. Thus, the Nikkei 225 added 0.78%, the Chinese and Hong Kong indicators Shanghai Composite and Hang Seng Index decreased by 0.13%, the Australian S&P/ASX 200 and the South Korean KOSPI index fell by 0.36% and 0.85%, respectively.
The growth of the Japanese indicator is explained by the positive attitude of investors caused by information about the dynamics of the state's GDP growth in the second quarter of this year. In annual terms, GDP increased by 1.9%, although the growth was only 1.3%.
The country's national economy showed an increase of 0.5% in the previous quarter, which exceeded the forecasts of analysts who predicted +0.4%, and preliminary data, according to which it amounted to 0.3%. In the first quarter of 2021, the Japanese economy showed no growth but a decline of 1.1%.
A positive factor is an increase in the country's exports by 2.8% (an increase observed for four quarters) and imports by 5%, which has been growing for three consecutive quarters.
On the Japanese stock exchange, the securities of SoftBank Group Corp. rose more than others, which added 4.3% thanks to a very promising deal with the German company Deutsche Telekom. Toyota Motor shares fell by 0.4%. At the same time, the company reports that it intends to invest 1.5 trillion yen in the next few years in optimizing the means of production and research activities.
The negative dynamics on the Chinese stock exchanges are facilitated by a decrease in China's foreign exchange reserves, which are considered the largest in the world (by $4 billion – from $ 3,236 trillion (as of the end of July) to $ 3,232 trillion. At the same time, according to analysts' forecasts, reserves should have decreased by $ 3 billion instead of $ 4 billion.
Among Chinese companies, the securities of WH Group Ltd., Geely Automobile Holdings Ltd., and Xiaomi Corp. fell the most, falling by 4%, 2.4%, and 2%, respectively.
The share price of the largest companies in Australia (BHP and Rio Tinto) is also falling. BHP shares lost 1%, while Rio Tinto lost 0.4%.
It should be noted that investors continue to be concerned about the situation with the spread of the coronavirus and the relatively low rates of vaccination against it. It contributes to slowing down the recovery of companies operating in the service sector.
The material has been provided by InstaForex Company - www.instaforex.com