Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index leads losses in Asia as Chinese real estate shares fall

SINGAPORE — Stocks in Asia-Pacific were mixed on Friday as shares in Hong Kong led losses among the region’s major markets

Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index slipped 1.41% to finish the trading day at 24,870.51. Mainland Chinese stocks closed lower, with the Shanghai composite down 1% to 3,491.57 while the Shenzhen component shed 0.637% to 14,462.62

Shares of Chinese property developers in Hong Kong fell. China Evergrande Group slipped 2.54% while China Vanke dropped 1.39% and Sunac China Holdings plunged 6.78%. The Hang Seng Properties index dipped 0.5% to 29,881.42

Trading in Hong Kong-listed shares of Chinese property developer Kaisa Group and several of its units was suspended on Friday, according to exchange notices

Kaisa Group said Thursday its finance unit missed a payment on a wealth management product, according to Reuters. Kaisa is the second-largest issuer of U.S. dollar-denominated offshore high-yield bonds among Chinese developers, according to Natixis. Evergrande ranks first

It comes as investors continue to watch for developments in China’s property sector following the fallout from heavily indebted Evergrande. A few other Chinese real estate firms had also been under the spotlight for going into default, or missing payments on their debt

Elsewhere, Asia-Pacific stocks were mixed as South Korea’s Kospi fell 0.47% to close at 2,969.27. Shares in Japan also declined on the day as the Nikkei 225 slipped 0.61% to 29,611.57 and the Topix index shed 0.69% to 2,041.42

The S&P/ASX 200 in Australia gained 0.39% to close at 7,456.90 while Taiwan’s Taiex jumped 1.28% to finish the trading day at 17,296.90

MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan declined 0.23%

Overnight stateside, the S&P 500 climbed 0.42% to 4,680.06, another record closing high. The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite also rose 0.81% to an all-time closing high of 15,940.31. The Dow Jones Industrial Average lagged, dipping 33.35 points to 36,124.23