Hong Kong led declines in Asia-Pacific markets on Tuesday, with Japanese stocks also halting their record-breaking rally that has seen benchmark indexes hit multi-decade highs.
Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index shed 2.06%, while mainland China’s CSI 300 index reversed losses to gain 0.61% to 3,300.87 — the only benchmark in positive territory.
The Nikkei 225 dropped 0.79% to close at 35,619.18, snapping a six-day winning streak. The broad-based Topix fell 0.82% to 2,503.98.
Japan’s December corporate goods price index came in flat year on year, compared with a 0.30% fall expected by economists in a Reuters poll. The CGPI climbed 0.30% month on month, compared with estimates of it remaining flat.
The Nikkei has hit key milestones of 34,000, 35,000 and 36,000 — levels the index has not seen since 1990.
In Australia, the S&P/ASX 200 marked a third straight day of losses as commodity stocks dragged the index, falling 1.09%.
South Korea’s Kospi declined 1.12% to end at 2,497.59, its lowest level since Dec.7, while the small-cap Kosdaq fell 0.57% to 854.83.
U.S. markets were closed Monday due to the Martin Luther King holiday, but futures indicate that the three main indexes were likely to fall when markets resume trading.
Futures tied to the Dow Jones Industrial Average were down 0.13%, while S&P 500 and Nasdaq Composite futures were each 0.15% lower.
Investors are looking ahead to U.S. December retail sales data out Wednesday, which could fuel recessionary fears and concerns about economic growth if consumer spending shows signs of cooling down.
Economists polled by FactSet anticipate an increase of 0.2% for the month, slightly under the 0.3% increase in November.
