Asia report: Markets mixed on reports of last-minute payment from Evergrande
By Josh White
Date: Friday 22 Oct 2021
(Sharecast News) - Markets in Asia closed in a mixed state on Friday, with shares in China Evergrande rising on reports it was prepared to meet its next bond debt deadline.
In Japan, the Nikkei 225 was up 0.34% at 28,804.85, as the yen strengthened 0.04% on the dollar to last trade at JPY 113.95.
Fashion firm Fast Retailing was down 0.64%, while among the benchmark's other major components, automation specialist Fanuc was up 0.1% and technology conglomerate SoftBank Group added 0.55%.
The broader Topix index was ahead 0.07% by the end of trading in Tokyo, closing at 2,002.23.
On the mainland, the Shanghai Composite was down 0.34% at 3,582.60, and the smaller, technology-heavy Shenzhen Composite lost 0.15% to 2,412.67.
South Korea's Kospi slipped 0.04% to 3,006.16, while the Hang Seng Index in Hong Kong advanced 0.42% to 26,126.93.
Embattled Chinese property developer Evergrande was up 4.26% in the special administrative region, having fallen at a double-digit rate on Thursday, while its affiliate Evergrande Property Services was ahead 1.7%.
Those movements came after media reports that it was preparing to pay a bond coupon before the end of its grace period over the weekend, having missed several due dates in recent weeks.
"Shares in Evergrande have regained some ground after yesterday's 14% slump on a report that it has made a key interest payment on its March 2022 offshore bond," said Interactive Investor head of investment Victoria Scholar.
"The report of Evergrande's eleventh hour bond payment would mean that the company, at least for now, has narrowly averted a default ahead of the 30-day grace period, which expires tomorrow."
That would be a short-term win for the embattled Chinese property giant, Scholar said.
"However, default risk and concerns about the outlook for the property sector, the financial system and the broader economy remain with other interest payments due in November and December."
Seoul's blue-chip technology stocks were in the green, with Samsung Electronics up 0.28%, and SK Hynix rising 2.28%.
Oil prices were higher as the region ended the weekend, with Brent crude last ahead 0.49% at $85.02 per barrel, and West Texas Intermediate rising 0.44% to $82.86.
In Australia, the S&P/ASX 200 was broadly flat, closing at 7,415.50, while across the Tasman Sea, New Zealand's S&P/NZX 50 was down 0.25% at 13,093.24.
The down under dollars were both stronger on the greenback, with the Aussie last ahead 0.49% at AUD 1.3326, and the Kiwi advancing 0.35% to NZD 1.3924.
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