Yen hits fresh low, HSI slips amid geopolitical tensions

The yen hit a fresh 34-year low to the US dollar yesterday, while Hong Kong stocks slid amid rising geopolitical tensions.

The Japanese currency traded past 153.9 against the greenback - a level not seen since June 1990.

This came as the Hang Seng Index fell over 250 points before paring losses to close 121 points lower at 16,600 points yesterday.

The Shanghai Composite Index gained 1.3 percent as investors interpreted the new guidelines on the country's capital market as a positive signal.

China's securities regulator issued draft rules on Friday to strengthen the supervision of company listings, delistings and computer-driven program trading, in a move to improve the stock market and protect investors' interests.

Oil stocks saw a rally in the city yesterday, with PetroChina (0857) rising 2.2 percent. Oil prices, however, eased after Iran's retaliatory attack as traders had largely priced in the news.

Local cosmetics retailer Sa Sa International (0178) tumbled 9 percent on disappointing quarterly sales. Chow Tai Fook (1929) dropped 7.9 percent, the worst performer among blue chips.

Gold miners Zhaojin Mining (1818) sank 9.6 percent on its discounted share placement although gold prices stayed firm as safe-haven assets like the US dollar due to concerns about Middle East conflicts.

Chinese state-owned rolling stock manufacturer CRRC Corp (1766) jumped over 10.6 percent after the company expected it would see at least 50 percent growth in net profit in the first quarter.

Laekna (2105) surged 65.3 percent after the biotech firm said it received approval from US authorities to conduct clinical trials for its obesity drug candidate.

Separately, a survey by Bloomberg showed that India's ability to turn its economic expansion into corporate profits makes it a better prospect for investors than Japan or China. Even with China's attractively low stock valuations and Japan's progress in improving corporate governance, almost half of the 390 survey respondents selected India as the best investment among the three Asian giants.