China stocks recovered from Wednesday's slump, while South Korea's market dropped on high-profile earnings misses
It was a mixed finish in Asia today. Chinese stocks bounced back -- and small-caps continued to drive the action, drawing a fresh batch of buyers following the
previous session's steep losses. Meanwhile, Seoul-listed securities were hammered by poorly received earnings from Hyundai Motors and Samsung Engineering, while caution prevailed elsewhere in the region ahead of today's European Central Bank (ECB) meeting. By the close, China's Shanghai Composite added 1.5% and South Korea's Kospi fell nearly 1%, while Japan's Nikkei and Hong Kong's Hang Seng each gave up 0.6%.
Major European indexes haven't strayed too far from breakeven at midday, after the ECB left its key lending rates unchanged at their current record lows. Attention will now turn to this afternoon's press conference with ECB President Mario Draghi, where the technocrat is expected to indicate the door remains open for additional easing measures, if needed. At last check, the German DAX is up 0.2%, the French CAC 40 has edged 0.1% higher, and London's FTSE 100 is off 0.1%.
