SINGAPORE — Hong Kong stocks fell sharply as Asia-Pacific markets were mixed on Monday ahead of Australia and Malaysia central bank decisions this week.
The Hang Seng index was closed on Friday and slipped as much as 1.8% in early trade on Monday. It was last down 1.58%, while the Hang Seng Tech index declined 1.26%.
Mainland China stocks also dropped, with the Shanghai Composite falling 0.67% and the Shenzhen Component losing 0.4%.
Exchange-traded funds will be included in the stock connect scheme that links Hong Kong and mainland China from Monday.
We probably will be bumping along the bottom, maybe a bit more downside from here.
Dan Fineman
Co-head of Asia-Pacific equity strategy, Credit Suisse
South Korea’s Kospi struggled for direction and was last down 0.79%, while the Kosdaq shed 1.24%.
Japan and Australia markets were higher. The Nikkei 225 in Japan pared earlier gains to trade 0.2% higher, while the Topix index climbed 0.71%.
Over in Australia, the S&P/ASX 200 advanced 1.1%.
MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan fell 0.33%.
Dan Fineman, co-head of Asia-Pacific equity strategy at Credit Suisse, said markets appear to have adequately priced in the amount of Fed hikes that are to come, but that the “very high risk of recession” means markets are unlikely to rally.
“I think that the worst is behind us. We probably will be bumping along the bottom, maybe a bit more downside from here, but I think the difficulties of the first half will not be repeated on the same scale in the second half,” he told CNBC’s “Street Signs Asia” on Monday.
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The U.S. dollar index, which tracks the greenback against a basket of its peers, was at 105.082.
“The possibility of 75bp hikes at its June and July meetings is keeping the USD strong in the near term, but we maintain our core view that dollar strength will wane later in the year,” Richard Yetsenga, chief economist at ANZ, wrote in a Monday note.
The Japanese yen traded at 135.04 per dollar, strengthening from levels as weak as 137 per dollar last week. The Australian dollar was at $0.68 after recovering from below $0.679 recently.
Oil futures fell in Asia’s morning trade. U.S. crude futures shed 0.35% to $108.05 per barrel, while Brent crude futures slipped 0.34% to $111.25.
Source by www.cnbc.com
