LOS ANGELES (MarketWatch) -- Many Asian bourses turned lower in midday Thursday trading, reversing direction after the release of higher-than-expected Chinese inflation data. Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index traded down 0.6% at 21,081.8, Sydney's S&P/ASX 200 was down 0.1% at 4,815.8, Seoul's Kospi fell 0.1% to 1,660.8 and the Shanghai Composite was down 0.6% at 3,029.4, after all of the indexes spent much of the morning in positive territory. Japan's Nikkei 225 Average remained in the green, up 0.3% at 10.591.7, though well of its highs. The move downward followed Chinese data showing consumer inflation rose 2.7% in February from a year earlier, above the 2.4% expected by economists polled by Dow Jones Newswires. Many banks shifted lower, with Industrial & Commercial Bank of China Ltd. /quotes/comstock/28c!e:601398 (CN:601398 4.31, -0.05, -1.15%) /quotes/comstock/22h!e:1398 (HK:1398 5.93, -0.01, -0.17%) /quotes/comstock/11i!idcbf (IDCBF 0.77, +0.02, +2.67%) down 1.5% and China Construction Bank Corp. /quotes/comstock/28c!e:601939 (CN:601939 4.95, -0.03, -0.60%) /quotes/comstock/22h!e:939 (HK:939 6.59, -0.02, -0.30%) /quotes/comstock/11i!cichf (CICHF 0.84, -0.02, -1.75%) down 1% in Hong Kong, though both were 0.2% higher in Shanghai, and with Westpac Banking Corp. /quotes/comstock/22x!e:wbc (AU:WBC 23.99, -0.26, -1.07%) /quotes/comstock/11i!webnf (WEBNF 21.75, +0.35, +1.64%) down 1.6% in Sydney.
