Asia markets close mostly lower as U.S. jobs report show room for more hikes; Adani saga continues
Stocks in the Asia-Pacific mostly fell on Monday as a stronger-than-expected jobs report from the U.S. worrying investors the Federal Reserve has room for more interest rate hikes, as it continued its efforts to control inflation.
Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index fell 2.22% in its final hour of trade as property and technology stocks led losses. The Shenzhen Component shed 1.18% to 11,912.56 and the Shanghai Composite also lost 0.76% to 3,238.7.
In South Korea, the Kospi in South Korea fell 1.7% to 2,438.19 and the Kosdaq lost 0.71% to 761.33. The S&P/ASX 200 fell 0.25% to 7,539.00. Japan’s Nikkei 225
bucked the trend and gained 0.67% to 2,7693.65 and the Topix rose 0.45% to 1,979.22.
The Nifty 50 in India shed 0.62% and the S&P Sensex fell 0.67% as stocks of Adani Group mostly fell as allegations of stock manipulation and accounting fraud raised by Hindenburg raises concerns of spillover effects on wider Indian markets and Wall Street lenders.
The Bloomberg Billionaires Index showed founder and chairman Gautam Adani’s net worth further on Friday, as his net worth fell by more than 51.1%, or $61.6 billion, year-to-date.
Stocks on Wall Street fell on Friday, after the jobs report, and the 10-year Treasury yield topped 3.5% after jumping more than 12 basis points following the report.
Apple shares jumped 2.4% as the company reported a drop in sales in largest quarterly revenue decline since 2016, Google-parent Alphabet fell 2.8% following disappointing results. Amazon’s stock also declined 8.4% in its worst day since April after its earning
Here are some major economic data investors will be watching out of the Asia-Pacific this week.
Australia’s retail trade readings for the final quarter of 2022 will be released later today. Thailand’s inflation data and Indonesia’s gross domestic product will also be published.
On Tuesday, the Reserve Bank of Australia announces its benchmark cash rate decision. Economists polled by Reuters are expecting the central bank to hike by 25 basis points in February.
Japan’s current account balance for December will be released on Wednesday.
On Thursday, Taiwan will release its inflation print for January.
China’s consumer price index and producer price index for January will be published on Friday.
