Shares of Chinese Telecom Giants Surge Following NYSE Delisting U-Turn; Asia Markets Mostly Higher

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  • Shares of Chinese telecommunications giants surged in Tuesday trade after the New York Stock Exchange announced it will no longer delist the firms.
  • Shares of Chinese chipmaker SMIC in Hong Kong were monitored by investors, after it was among firms set to be deleted from FTSE Russell's global equity indexes.
  • Developments surrounding the coronavirus pandemic likely continued weighing on investor sentiment on Tuesday.

SINGAPORE — Shares of Chinese telecommunications giants surged in Tuesday trade after the New York Stock Exchange announced it will no longer delist the firms.

Hong Kong-listed shares of China Mobile soared 5.13% while China Unicom surged 8.5%. China Telecom's stock jumped 3.35%.

The NYSE had previously announced Thursday that it would delist the three firms.

Overall, Chinese stocks were higher on the day, with the Shanghai composite up 0.73% to 3,528.68 while the Shenzhen component gained 2.159% to 15,147.57. Hong Kong's Hang Seng index rose 0.64% to 27,649.86.

Shares of Chinese chipmaker SMIC in Hong Kong were monitored by investors, after it was among firms set to be deleted from FTSE Russell's global equity indexes. That comes following an executive order by U.S. President Donald Trump barring U.S. investments in some Chinese firms.

Its shares dropped 9.61% on Tuesday.

Shares of Hon Hai Precision Industry, better known as Foxconn, jumped 4.1%. That came after a manufacturing deal was announced on Monday between the contract manufacturing giant and Chinese electric vehicle startup Byton.

Other Asia-Pacific markets

Shares in other Asia-Pacific markets were mixed on Tuesday.

In Japan, the Nikkei 225 declined 0.37% to close at 27,158.63 while the Topix index finished its trading day 0.19% lower at 1,791.22. South Korea's Kospi jumped 1.57% to close at 2,990.57.

Shares in Australia were little changed on the day, with the S&P/ASX 200 largely flat at 6,681.90.

MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan was 0.74% higher.

Overnight stateside, the Dow Jones Industrial Average closed 382.59 points lower at 30,223.89. The S&P 500 slipped 1.5% on the day to 3,700.65. The Nasdaq Composite also slid 1.5%, ending its trading at 12,698.45. Monday marked the first negative start to a year for the Dow since 2016.

Developments surrounding the coronavirus pandemic likely continued weighing on investor sentiment on Tuesday. British Prime Minister Boris Johnson recently announced a national lockdown on England as it seeks to combat the new Covid variant.

In Asia, local media reports in Japan have said that the government is considering declaring a state of emergency for Tokyo and several neighboring areas as early as Thursday in an attempt to stem the spread of the virus.

Currencies and oil

The U.S. dollar index, which tracks the greenback against a basket of its peers, was at 89.751 after seeing an earlier low of 89.685.

The Japanese yen traded at 102.91 per dollar after weakening from levels below 102.8 against the greenback yesterday. The Australian dollar changed hands at $0.7716 following an earlier low of $0.7659.

Oil prices were lower in the afternoon of Asia trading hours, with international benchmark Brent crude futures down 0.12% to $51.03 per barrel. U.S. crude futures were little changed at $47.61 per barrel.

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