Major Asian indices are trading mixed on Friday. Shanghai Composite and Shenzhen Composite lost 0.47% and 0.55% respectively, while Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index fell by 1.51%. Other indices showed minor gains, with Japan's Nikkei 225 up by 0.12%, Korea's KOSPI adding 0.11%, and Australia's S&P/ASX 200 gaining 0.38%. Investors are worried about a possible deterioration in relations between China and the United States against the backdrop of the Russian-Ukrainian conflict. The US authorities have already warned that if China provides any help to Russia during its military operation in Ukraine, this will negatively affect US-China relations. Another concern for investors is a possible new COVID-19 wave. China has recently reported new outbreaks of the virus, which may limit GDP growth in the first quarter of this year. So far, there are no signs that the number of coronavirus cases has decreased.
Among the companies included in the Nikkei 225, special attention should be given to Pacific Metals Co., Sumitomo Metal Mining Co., Shionogi & Co., and Daiichi Sankyo Co., as their shares rose by 5.1%, 2.1%, 4.9%, and 4.2%, respectively. At the same time, other large companies posted losses: SoftBank Group (-1.4%), Sony (-0.6%), and Fast Retailing (-0.6%). The worst-performers among Chinese companies were Meituan (-7.8%), BYD Co. (-5.4%), Alibaba Group Holding Ltd. (-5.3%), JD.com (-5%), and Tencent Holdings Ltd. (-2.7%).
However, there were also companies that posted gains: AAC Technologies Holdings Inc. (by 3.9%), CITIC (by 2%), Bank of China (by 1%), and Hang Seng Bank (by 0.7%). JD Logistics announced its plan to raise 3.1 billion Hong Kong dollars (equivalent to $396.3 million) through share placements and by issuing shares to existing shareholders. Following this news, the company's shares fell sharply by 14.2 %. The value of Longfor Group Holdings Ltd. shares decreased by 0.1% although its net profit for 2021 rose by 19% and revenue increased by 21%.
Among the KOSPI stocks, LG Energy Solution Ltd. shares went up by 7.7% due to the announcement regarding the company's expansion. Analysts expect LGES to show a strong earnings report for the first quarter of 2022. At the same time, the stock price of Samsung Electronics Co. increased by only 0.1%, while Hyundai Motor dropped by 1.4%. Among the companies included in the S&P/ASX 200, Falcon Metals Ltd. saw a rise in the value of its stock by 20.8%. Other companies in this sector also showed good performance: BlueScope Steel Ltd. (by 5.1%), Newcrest Mining Ltd. (by 3.5%), Pilbara Minerals Ltd. (by 3.2%). BHP shares added 1% and Rio Tinto gained 0.7%.
