Asia stock markets were mostly down (up 1.3%). The Japanese Nikkei 225 added 0.2%. Other indices declined, with China's Shanghai Composite and Shenzhen Composite down 0.22% and 0.48% each. The Australian S&P/ASX 200 and the Korean KOSPI lost about the same amount – 0.36% and 0.54%, respectively. Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index fell the most, down 1.3%.
The main reason for investors' pessimism was the growing international tension. Investors were waiting for further developments on the world stage, so for now they are moving away from risk. Any sign indicating an escalation of the conflict will cause an immediate reaction from the markets.
The day before, there was a report of rocket attacks inflicted on the Polish village of Przewodow, as a result of which two people were killed. Initially, the Polish authorities indicated that the missiles were Russian-made, but later the country's leadership said that they did not have accurate information about the missile's ownership. The Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation stated that on that day no strikes were made on targets in the area of the Ukrainian-Polish border.
The growth of the Japanese indicator was facilitated by an increase in the share price of the largest enterprises: Nichirei Corp., which grew by 4.1%, Pacific Metals, Co., increased by 3.4%, Japan Steel Works, Ltd., rose by 3.3%, as well as CyberAgent, Inc. and SoftBank Group, which added 3.2% and 2.6%, respectively. Nintendo and Fast Retailing also showed some growth, up 0.7% and 0.2%, respectively.
The largest declines on the stock exchange in Hong Kong were shown by shares of Country Garden Holdings, which fell by 16.3%, and Longfor Group Holdings, which decreased by 8.5%. The value of securities of Geely Automobile Holding (by 4.9%), Xiaomi (by 4.6%) and JD.com (by 4.1%) also fell.
Shares of Agile Group Holding, Ltd. fell immediately by 22% in the face of information from the company about the intention to carry out an additional issue of shares at a lower cost than their current market price.
At the same time, some of the Chinese companies are showing growth: Budweiser Brewing, Co. APAC added 4.1%, China Hongqiao Group, Ltd. increased by 2.6%, while PetroChina gained 1.8%.
With better-than-expected earnings and third-quarter earnings, Tencent Music Entertainment Group's stock jumped 26%.
Among the largest Korean companies, there is no single dynamics: the shares of Samsung Electronics, Co. added 0.3% in price, while Hyundai Motor decreased by 1.4%.
Components of the Australian S&P/ASX 200 were also mixed. BHP added 1.2%, Rio Tinto added 1.6%, Woodside Energy added 1.4% and Beach Energy added 0.4%.
At the same time, quotes of banking institutions showed a decrease: shares of Commonwealth Bank of Australia fell by 1.8%, National Australia Bank - by 0.6%, Westpac Banking - by 0.5%, and Australia & New Zealand Banking Group - by 0.3%.