By Laura He, MarketWatch
HONG KONG (MarketWatch) -- Hong Kong stocks on Monday edged
lower, as China's imports for August fell unexpectedly, while
exports slightly exceeded expectations.
Official data showed Monday that China's imports dropped by 2.4%
on-year last month, against an estimated 2.7% rise from a poll of
economists by The Wall Street Journal. Meanwhile, exports grew 9.4%
year-over-over, above a forecast 9.2% increase by the
economists.
The Hang Seng Index ended down 0.2%, with its top components --
HSBC Holdings PLC and Tencent Holdings Ltd. -- as a drag. HSBC was
off 0.8%, and Tencent declined 1.6%.
More broadly, tech stocks were weaker, as software developer
Kingdee International Software Group gave up 1.5%,
online-transaction service provider China Binary sale Technology
Ltd. pulled back 1.3%, and online game developers Forgame Holdings
Ltd. and NetDragon Websoft, Inc both moved lower by 0.6%.
However, China Mobile Ltd. , the country's largest wireless
carrier, advanced 1.1%, with investors awaiting the upcoming launch
of iPhone 6 by Apple Inc. (AAPL) on Tuesday in the U.S. Smaller
rival China Telecom Corp. Ltd. popped up 2.8%, while another
competitor China Unicom (Hong Kong) Ltd. dipped 0.1%.
Meanwhile, Hong Kong's local lender Bank of East of Asia Ltd.
picked up 0.2%, after it said Japanese bank Sumitomo Mitsui Banking
Corp. planned to increase its stake to 17.5% from 9.6%.
In Japan, the Nikkei Average edged up 0.2%, while the yen
(USDJPY) slightly dropped versus the dollar to Yen105.134 from
Yen105.100 in the previous session. The broader Topix index rose
0.4%.
In other Asian markets, Australia's S&P/ASX 200 fell 0.4%,
with the Australian dollar (AUDUSD) a little weaker at 93.56 U.S.
cents, down from 93.78 U.S. cents in the prior session.
Markets in South Korea, mainland China and Taiwan were closed
for public holidays.
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