Asian Stocks Slip As Chinese Earnings Rattle Investors

Asian equities slipped on Wednesday as weak corporate earnings in China raised fresh concerns over its struggling economy.

Bottled water maker Nongfu Spring Co. shares plunged by as much as 13% after posting the slowest half-year profit growth in four years. I Photo: LEGIC

Traders are also awaiting Nvidia Corp.’s results for cues on the growth momentum of artificial intelligence (AI)-related stocks, Chiranjivi Chakraborty reported for Bloomberg News.

Chinese stocks in Hong Kong fell by as much as 1.5%, while those on the mainland declined to their lowest levels since early February.

Bottled water maker Nongfu Spring Co. shares plunged by as much as 13% after posting the slowest half-year profit growth in four years, becoming the latest company to issue disappointing results.

“So far, we are still seeing many more downgrades than upgrades in Chinese earnings,” Winnie Wu, a China equity strategist at Bank of America Corp., told Bloomberg TV.

Internet companies are outperforming other sectors in beating earnings expectations, but materials, tech, builders, auto, and other industries pose significant downside risks, she said.

Most major benchmarks across the region were in the red, with Japan and South Korea also experiencing losses. Two-year Treasury yields, which are more sensitive to interest-rate policy, fell by three basis points.