ASIA MARKETS: Hong Kong Stocks Edge Lower After Mixed China Data

By Laura He, MarketWatch

HONG KONG (MarketWatch) -- Hong Kong stocks on Monday edged lower, as China's imports for August fell unexpectedly, while exports slightly exceeded expectations.

Official data showed Monday that China's imports dropped by 2.4% on-year last month, against an estimated 2.7% rise from a poll of economists by The Wall Street Journal. Meanwhile, exports grew 9.4% year-over-over, above a forecast 9.2% increase by the economists.

The Hang Seng Index ended down 0.2%, with its top components -- HSBC Holdings PLC and Tencent Holdings Ltd. -- as a drag. HSBC was off 0.8%, and Tencent declined 1.6%.

More broadly, tech stocks were weaker, as software developer Kingdee International Software Group gave up 1.5%, online-transaction service provider China Binary sale Technology Ltd. pulled back 1.3%, and online game developers Forgame Holdings Ltd. and NetDragon Websoft, Inc both moved lower by 0.6%.

However, China Mobile Ltd. , the country's largest wireless carrier, advanced 1.1%, with investors awaiting the upcoming launch of iPhone 6 by Apple Inc. (AAPL) on Tuesday in the U.S. Smaller rival China Telecom Corp. Ltd. popped up 2.8%, while another competitor China Unicom (Hong Kong) Ltd. dipped 0.1%.

Meanwhile, Hong Kong's local lender Bank of East of Asia Ltd. picked up 0.2%, after it said Japanese bank Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corp. planned to increase its stake to 17.5% from 9.6%.

In Japan, the Nikkei Average edged up 0.2%, while the yen (USDJPY) slightly dropped versus the dollar to Yen105.134 from Yen105.100 in the previous session. The broader Topix index rose 0.4%.

In other Asian markets, Australia's S&P/ASX 200 fell 0.4%, with the Australian dollar (AUDUSD) a little weaker at 93.56 U.S. cents, down from 93.78 U.S. cents in the prior session.

Markets in South Korea, mainland China and Taiwan were closed for public holidays.

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