Investing.com - Asian stocks traded mostly lower in afternoon trade on Thursday, with Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index down more than 1.8% by 1:30AM ET (05:30 GMT).
U.S. Judge Ed Kinkeade in Dallas issued an order that said China’s ZTE Corp (HK:0763) violated probation imposed last March for attempting to evade U.S. sanctions, and extended its monitor term under U.S. export control laws till 2022. ZTE announced the probation changes on Thursday morning in Hong Kong.
The term was originally scheduled to end in 2020, after the mobile phone company pleaded guilty for conspiring to evade U.S. sanctions by shipping American goods and technology to Iran. The U.S. Commerce Department said the company made false statements about disciplining 35 staff involved in the shipping of U.S.-origin goods to Iran.
ZTE halted operations after the ban was ordered in April, and resumed business in July after paying a $1 billion penalty, putting $400 million in escrow, installing a new board and senior management and being under a new monitor for a decade.
Meanwhile, the U.S. dollar gained and the yield on the United States 10-Year treasuries rose to the highest level since 2011 after data from ADP and Moody’s Analytics revealed U.S. services and private payrolls increased by 230,000 in September, comparing to a number of 185,000 jobs expected by economists.
South Korea’s KOSPI slid 1.6% after Bank of Korea Governor Lee Ju-yeol hinted at a possible policy rate hike later in October.
SK Hynix Inc (KS:000660) made headlines after the company said it would invest 20 trillion won ($17.8 billion) in a new memory chip manufacturing plant opening on Thursday in South Korea,
The investment was about 15.5 trillion won, or 29% more than originally budgeted in 2015, according to Reuters. The factory will produce NAND flash chips, it added.
"Timing for equipment installation shall be decided considering market conditions," SK Hynix said in a statement.
Japan’s Nikkei 225 slipped 0.3%. Toyota Motor Corp (T:7203) and Softbank Corp. (T:9984) were in focus as Reuters reported the two companies are set to announce a partnership on automated driving and other related technology.
In a joint statement, the two companies said they will hold a joint news conference later in the day.
Down under, Australia’s ASX 200 outperformed its regional peers and rose 0.4%. A report from Pacific Investment Management warned that the country’s housing slump raised the possibility of debt downgrades for local big banks.
“We have grown more cautious with the external credits of Australian banks,’’ Pimco analysts and portfolio managers led by Taosha Wang said in a note to clients. “The probability of a market-moving agency downgrade that causes major banks to lose their AA- rating for the first time in history is now higher than before.’’
Elsewhere, the Reserve Bank of India said in a statement that it is easing norms for state-run refiners including Indian Oil Corp., Bharat Petroleum Corp. and Hindustan Petroleum Corp. to borrow money from overseas markets,
in a bid to support the rupee. The central bank removed a $750-million cap each on those companies, according to the statement.
China’s stock markets remained closed for a week-long holiday.