Asian markets see mixed figures at Thursday's close

By Aysu Bicer

ANKARA (AA) – Stock markets in Asia ended Thursday with mixed figures as concerns about rising inflation and the debt problem in the real estate sector continue.

Various claims have been made as to whether the Chinese real estate company Evergrande, which is in debt crisis, paid the interest of foreign debt bonds.

While Chinese media outlet Cailianshe reported that several bondholders received interest payments of the three bond tranches that had a total of over $148 million due last month, different sources suggested the company was in default.

No official statement has been made on the subject thus far.

The Chinese government's announcement that it loosened refinancing restrictions of real estate companies supported the stock markets.

Also producer prices in China and consumer prices in the US remained high, being the main factors limiting the risk appetite.

With these developments, Evergrande's shares trading on the Hong Kong stock exchange increased more than 5%.

The Asia Dow, which includes blue-chip companies in the region, went up by 1.41 points, or 0.04%, to close at nearly 3,870 points.

Tokyo’s Nikkei 225 stock exchange also rose 178.6 points, or 0.59%, to 29,277.

The Hang Seng, the benchmark for blue-chip stocks trading on the Hong Kong stock exchange, rose 252 points, or 1.01%, to 25,247.

China's Shanghai stock exchange also increased 40.32 points, or 1.15%, to 3,532 points.

The Indian Sensex benchmark was down 583 points, or 0.97%, to 3,236, while South Korea's Kospi index fell 0.2% to 2,925 points.