介绍:
Asian Stocks
Anchor:
Time to check today's business news, starting with the closing numbers here in China.
Markets on the mainland ended slightly lower on Thursday despite robust surges in shares related to green cars.
The new energy vehicles sector - including charging facilities, lithium batteries and smart grids - all surged on the day, with 15 shares hitting the daily increase limit of 10 percent.
Recently listed companies continued their momentum, with 40 stocks reaching the daily upper limit.
Brokerages extended the previous positive performances, but saw less gains.
Shares of Western Securities went up 3 percent after soaring nearly 80 percent in the past seven days.
At the close, the benchmark Shanghai Composite Index lost half of a percent.
The smaller Shenzhen index dipped 0.3 percent.
The ChiNext Index of growth enterprises shed 0.8 percent.
While in Hong Kong, stocks closed higher with the benchmark Heng Seng Index rising 2.4 percent.
Elsewhere in Asia,
Tokyo shares ended trading largely flat as initial investor sentiment was boosted by the Cabinet Office, reporting robust machinery orders but that was offset by concerns the market may be overheating following gains made during a recent winning streak.
Utilities and metal products led the gains, while banks and mining-related stocks comprised the day's major decliners.
South Korea's KOSPI trimmed 0.2 percent.
Singapore's Straights Times index declined 0.8 percent.
And finally,
Australia's ASX/200 ticked up a fraction of a percent.
Chinese yuan weakens against USD for 8th day
The central parity rate of the Chinese currency yuan against the U.S. dollar fell for the 8th straight day on Thursday to the lowest level in more than a month.
The yuan weakened by 14 basis points against the U.S. currency.
Analysts have attributed the fall to a stronger U.S. dollar and the IMF's upcoming decision on including the yuan in its Special Drawing Rights basket.
The IMF is expected to make its decision on whether to include the yuan in the SDR later this month.
On China's spot foreign exchange market, the yuan is allowed to rise or fall by 2 percent from the central parity rate each trading day.
The central parity rate of the yuan against the U.S. dollar is based on a weighted average of prices offered by market makers before the opening of the interbank market each business day.
MSCI to Include U.S.-listed Chinese Firms on its Indexes
Anchor:
It's being reported that index provider MSCI is ready to add overseas-listed Chinese shares to its emerging market indexes later this Thursday.
If the move goes ahead, it would be the first time overseas-listed China shares, also known as American Depositary Receipts, are included on the MSCI's indexes.
It is said that major Chinese companies with ADRs traded in the U.S. including Alibaba and Baidu are likely to be among around 14 Chinese companies added to indexes such as the MSCI Emerging Markets Index and MSCI China.
It is also estimated that about 70 billion U.S. dollars could flow to the stocks of the Chinese firms set for inclusion.
The move comes after MSCI decided not to include China's 'A' shares in its global indexes back in June.
For more on this, CRI's Spencer Musick earlier spoke with Cao Can, CRI's financial commentator.
Lenovo Reports Q2 Loss
Lenovo is reporting its biggest-ever quarterly loss through its second quarter.
The Chinese computer maker has posted a net loss of 714-million US dollars for the period.
This compares to a net profit of 262-million U.S. dollars during Lenovo's 2nd quarter a year ago.
However, the loss is narrower than analysts' estimates.
Lenovo has suffered from a decline in global demand for PCs, which account for around a third of the company's revenues.
Sales in Lenovo's PC business are down 17 percent year-on-year to around 8 billion U.S. dollars.
In response to the shrinking demand for PCs, the Beijing-based company made two multi-billion-dollar acquisitions last year, including Google's Motorola handset unit and IBM's low-end server business.
Despite the quarterly loss, Lenovo shares increased 3.4-percent today in Hong Kong.
China's Singles Day shopping frenzy spreading to Brazil
China's e-commerce giant Alibaba has set its sights on replicating its Singles Day success overseas.
With its online shopping platform, Aliexpress, Alibaba this year opened a dedicated Portuguese-language website for Brazilian online shoppers.
The website teamed up with 20 of its best-selling brands to provide discounts to Brazilian shoppers.
Chinese smartphone sensation, Xiaomi, which launched in Brazil earlier this year, cut the prices of its products by 30 percent on the day.
Chinese sportswear line, Li-Ning, also slashed its prices by up to 45 percent on its trainers and jackets.
Meanwhile, Aliexpress has also partnered with Brazilian Post to ensure shoppers receive their latest purchases quickly and securely.
Alibaba saw record breaking sales of more than 90 billion yuan, or 14 billion US dollars, on Singles Day on Wednesday.
That number represents a 60 percent increase on last year.
BMW Buys Chinese Firm to Tap Car Lease Market
German auto maker BMW has acquired Chinese firm Herald Leasing as part of its bid to broaden its activities in its biggest market to include car leasing.
The company says it's responding to the increasing importance of the emerging leasing business in the world's largest vehicle market and laying the foundations for further growth.
Financial details of the transaction have not been disclosed.
The acquisition will allow BMW to add leasing options to its local financing services.
Herald Leasing has offices in 58 Chinese cities and reported revenues of over 200 million yuan or 33 million US dollars last year.
China's new yuan loans up in October
Data from China's central bank shows China's new yuan-denominated lending in October hit 514 billion yuan or nearly 81 billion U.S. dollars, up 48 billion yuan from a year earlier.
The data also shows M2, a broad measure of money supply that covers cash in circulation and all deposits, increased 13.5 percent year on year to 136 trillion yuan at the end of October.
Meanwhile, the narrow measure of money supply, which covers cash in circulation plus demand deposits, rose 14 percent year on year to about 37 trillion yuan at the end of last month.
Apple in talks with US banks for person-to-person payment service: Report
It's being reported that Apple is in talks with U.S. banks to develop a person-to-person mobile payment service.
The service is said to be able to compete with PayPal's popular Venmo.
It would allow users to transfer funds from their checking accounts through Apple devices.
The report also says that the service would probably be linked to the company's Apple Pay system, which allows customers to make credit-card and debit-card payments with their mobile phones.
It is still unclear if any of the banks have signed an agreement with Apple.
大家还在听
