Local Shares Dip In Mixed Day For Region

The Hang Seng Index closed slightly lower on Wednesday while markets elsewhere in the region were mixed, as investors waited on the US Federal Reserve's guidance on its monetary policy amid a busy earnings week.

The Hang Seng Index flipped between gains and losses in a range of more than 400 points in the morning, before steadying in the afternoon. It closed down 93 points, or about a third of one percent, to 29,297, on turnover of HK$255.1 billion.

Heavyweight Tencent gave up 2.6 percent. Meituan dropped 4.1 percent. Xiaomi shed almost three percent. But the remaining member of the so-called ATMX stocks, Alibaba, rose 2.7 percent.

CNOOC and China Mobile were the top performers on the blue-chip index, each jumping more than five percent.

Across the border, mainland shares were supported by upbeat industrial profits data.

The Shanghai Composite Index edged up 0.1 percent, while the blue-chip CSI300 index and the Shenzhen Composite were each up about a quarter of a percent.

Elsewhere in the region, Japan’s Nikkei added 0.3 percent, after the International Monetary Fund upgraded its global economic growth forecast for the year to 5.5 percent.

Analysts say investors were expecting better corporate results as many Japanese firms are sensitive to the global economy.

Taiwan snapped a three-day losing streak to add 0.3 percent. Singapore put on half a percent. But the Kospi in Seoul slipped 0.6 percent. And Australia fell 0.7 percent.