SINGAPORE — Stocks in Asia-Pacific were mixed in Thursday trade as investors continue to monitor the situation surrounding Ukraine.
The Nikkei 225 in Japan declined 0.37% while the Topix index shed 0.46%.
Japan’s January exports came in far below expectations, with official data released Thursday showing a 9.6% year-on-year rise for that month. That was against expectations by economists for a 16.5% gain, according to Reuters.
Mainland Chinese stocks declined, with the Shanghai composite falling 0.3% and the Shenzhen component shedding 0.284%. The Hang Seng index in Hong Kong rose about 0.5%.
Elsewhere, South Korea’s Kospi gained 1.19%.
Shares in Australia rose, with the S&P/ASX 200 up 0.71%.
Australia added 12,900 jobs for January, data released Thursday showed. That was above market forecasts for a flat outcome, according to Reuters. The country’s unemployment rate held steady at 4.2%, according to figures from the Australian Bureau of Statistics, in line with expectations from a Reuters poll.
MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan traded 0.38% higher.
In geopolitical developments, NATO on Wednesday accused Russia of increasing the number of troops it has gathered at the Ukrainian border, a day after Moscow claimed it had begun withdrawing some of its military units.
A senior Biden administration official told reporters that as many as 7,000 troops have joined the 150,000 already near the border in recent days, according to a NBC News report.
Travel stocks in Singapore rise
Travel stocks in Singapore rose in Thursday trade, after the country’s authorities announced Wednesday plans to allow quarantine-free travel for all vaccinated visitors when the omicron wave has passed.
Shares of Singapore Airlines gained 1.69% in morning trade, while Sats jumped 2.65%.
The broader Straits Times index in Singapore also traded higher, rising 0.54%.
Oil drops more than 2%
Oil prices dropped in the morning of Asia trading hours, with international benchmark Brent crude futures 2.39% lower at $92.54 per barrel. U.S. crude futures shed 2.47% to $91.35 per barrel.
The U.S. dollar index, which tracks the greenback against a basket of its peers, was at 95.827 following a recent decline from above 96.
The Japanese yen traded at 115.49 per dollar, stronger than levels above 115.6 seen against the greenback yesterday. The Australian dollar was at $0.7203, continuing its general upward trek since a bounce from below $0.71 earlier this week.
