Asia-Pacific markets traded mixed Monday, tracking U.S. stocks futures that were lower ahead of key economic data, with escalating trade tensions denting investor sentiment.
U.S. President Donald Trump told reporters Sunday that he was planning to announce a blanket 25% tariff on all steel and aluminum imports on Monday, according to Reuters.
Over in Japan, the benchmark Nikkei 225 was down 0.1%, while the broader Topix index fell 0.27%, in choppy trading.
The country reported loan growth of 3% year on year in January, falling slightly from December's 3.1%.
South Korea's indexes opened lower, but changed course with the Kospi up 0.12% while the small-cap Kosdaq advanced 0.73%.
Australia's S&P/ASX 200 was trading down 0.31%.
Hong Kong's Hang Seng index rose 1.47%, while mainland China's CSI 300 Index was flat.
Consumer inflation in China rose for the first time since August 2024, on the back of higher spending in the lead up to the Lunar New Year, data released by the National Bureau of Statistics on Sunday revealed. The consumer price index rose 0.7% month on month and 0.5% annually in January more than Reuters' 0.4% estimate.
Meanwhile, its producer price index, which captures the wholesale price of goods, fell 2.3% from the previous year in January, more than the 2.1% drop expected by Reuters.
Investors will also be keeping an eye on Indian stocks that fell Friday, after the Reserve Bank of India expectedly cut interest rates for the first time in five years.
Singapore's benchmark Straits Times Index hit an all-time high of 3,910.12 points, LSEG data showed, led by gains in the shares of telecommunications operator Singapore Telecommunications and well as local banks DBS Group Holdings Oversea-Chinese Banking Corporation and United Overseas Bank
The STI benchmark was trading up 0.58%.The three key U.S. indexes fell Friday after U.S. President Donald Trump's said he was planning reciprocal tariffs on trading partners. Markets were further pressured by the release of consumer sentiment and jobs data which pointed to a pickup in inflation and spiked the 10-year Treasury yield above 4.5% at its session high.The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 444.23 points, or 0.99%, to close at 44,303.40. The S&P 500 declined 0.95% to 6,025.99, and the Nasdaq Composite slid 1.36% to end at 19,523.40. Friday's losses left the major averages in negative territory on the week.(Cay) Newsmaker23
source: CNBC
Tested EN...
Asian stock markets weakened for the second consecutive day, indicating that the initial rally that had been "speedy" at the start of the year is starting to lose steam. At the same time, US governmen...
US stocks were mixed on Wednesday as investors weighed uneven economic data against expectations for eventual Federal Reserve easing, with the S&P 500 easing 0.2% and the Dow Jones sliding 0.8% fr...
European stocks were in mixed territory on Wednesday morning, as regional market jitters grow over U.S. President Donald Trump's threat to annex Greenland. The pan-European Stoxx 600 was little chang...
Asian stock markets weakened slightly on Wednesday after posting their best start to the year in history. The decline was driven by a decline in Japanese stocks amid escalating tensions with China. Th...
Oil prices stabilized on Thursday (February 12th), as the market reassigned a risk premium to US-Iran tensions despite US inventory data showing swelling domestic supplies. This movement confirms one thing: geopolitical headlines are still more...
Gold prices weakened slightly on Thursday (February 12th), as more solid US employment data reduced market confidence in an imminent Federal Reserve interest rate cut. The strong employment data prompted market participants to shift expectations of...
The Hang Seng Index reversed its downward trend in Hong Kong on Thursday (February 12th), weakening by around 0.9% to around 27,000 after a strong session earlier. This decline halted the momentum of the short term rally, as investors began to...