Major stock exchanges in the Asia-Pacific traded mostly lower on Thursday, with the negative sentiment seemingly driven by the higher-than-projected trade deficit in Japan, while Hong Kong's Hang Seng sank over 500 points with Meituan pulling the index down after Chinese tech giant Tencent revealed it would "distribute" the majority of its $20 billion share in the food delivery firm in "dividends."
Tencent Holdings Ltd. revealed the day before that its revenue for the third quarter of the fiscal year declined by 2% on a yearly basis, attributing the loss to the slowing economic growth in the country.
In mainland China, the Shenzhen Composite decreased by 0.76% at 3:01 am CET. The Shanghai Composite plummeted by 0.96% at 3:29 am CET. Hong Kong's Hang Seng plunged by 505 points or 2.73% at 3:29 am CET, while the South Korean Kospi dropped by 1.23%. Japan's Nikkei 225 fell by 0.40% a minute later, while Australia's S&P/ASX 200 stood flat.
The American currency rose by 0.12% against the Japanese yen, to change hands to ¥139.54150 at 3:32 am CET.
