Stocks in Asia traded mixed on Monday, with most markets shrugging off steeper declines seen on Wall Street after a week largely dominated by U.S.-China trade developments.
The Nikkei 225 was largely directionless, with the benchmark flat in the morning. The broader Topix slipped 0.1 percent as the oil and coal subindex led declines.
South Korea’s Kospi advanced 0.27 percent as gains in the technology sector offset losses seen in steelmakers, automakers and financials. Samsung Electronics rose 1.61 percent and Posco was down 1.88 percent.
Greater China markets firmed in early morning trade. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index rose 0.84 percent, outperforming its regional peers as technology and financials stocks put in strong showings.
On the mainland, the Shanghai composite edged up by 0.16 percent and the Shenzhen composite inched higher by 0.04 percent.
Meanwhile, Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 was off by 0.04 percent. The heavily weighted financials sector and materials stocks were moderately lower, although gains were seen in utilities and consumer stocks.
The mixed Asia morning trade came after U.S. stocks fell on Friday amid trade concerns. The Dow Jones industrial average closed in correction territory, falling 2.34 percent, or 572.46 points, to close at 23,932.76.
Trade concerns in focus
Markets have focused on the escalation in trade-related rhetoric between the U.S. and China in recent weeks. U.S. stocks came under pressure after President Donald Trump on Thursday said he had instructed U.S. trade officials to consider $100 billion in additional tariffs on Chinese goods.
In response, China’s Ministry of Commerce said on Friday that it would “immediately fight back with a major response” if the U.S. went ahead with its plan to impose tariffs on $100 billion in Chinese imports.
Trump said in a tweet on Sunday that China would remove its trade barriers as that would be the “right thing to do.” Markets also awaited Chinese President Xi Jinping’s Tuesday speech at the Boao Forum.
Investors have been on edge over how heightened trade tensions between the world’s two largest economies could result in a potential trade war. That could, in turn, dent global economic growth and corporate profits.
Some analysts, however, saw the escalation as a part of Trump’s negotiating tactics and are hopeful about talks between the two countries.
“[W]e are starting to see a lessening in the severity of the moves, especially in the foreign exchange market where the market is looking for confirmation of action before committing to a trend,” Rakuten Securities Australia said in a note.
Against the yen, the dollar was mostly steady at 106.88 at 9:34 a.m. HK/SIN. The dollar index, which tracks the dollar against a basket of currencies, stood at 90.159.
On the commodities front, oil prices edged higher after settling more than 2 percent lower in the last session. U.S. West Texas Intermediate futures edged up 0.24 percent to trade at $62.21 per barrel. Brent crude futures advanced by 0.28 percent to trade at $67.30.
In individual movers, shares of aluminum producer Rusal fell 35.78 percent. The Hong Kong-listed company, which is headquartered in Russia, was included in a U.S. sanctions list, according to Reuters.
Besides trade concerns, markets also digested the release of March nonfarm payrolls on Friday. Nonfarm payrolls rose 103,000 last month, missing an expected gain of 193,000.
Also of note, Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell said Friday that gradual interest rate increases were needed, although he did not say exactly how many rate hikes were necessary.
