Tokyo (AFP) – Chinese ecommerce giant Alibaba boosted the Hang Seng on Monday, but other Asian markets mostly fell back after Wall Street retreated from record highs. Alibaba rocketed 15 percent following bumper results after hours on Friday, including a surge in AI revenue. Its US-listed shares soared on Friday too. The Hang Seng was up two percent and Shanghai edged up, but other Asian indexes were in the red, with Japan’s Nikkei off two percent as tech shares came under pressure.
Jakarta also fell more than two percent after six people were killed in unrest over economic hardship that escalated into violent anger against police. Seoul’s Kospi was also off even after South Korean data showed record monthly semiconductor exports in August despite growing pressure from US tariffs.
On Friday, US stocks fell, with the Dow and S&P 500 retreating from record highs ahead of the long Labor Day weekend. An acceleration of a key US inflation reading lowered prospects for sustained interest rate cuts by the Federal Reserve in the coming months. Although a September cut of 25 points is probably still on the cards, “it may be hard for them to move as quickly or aggressively as they’d like, with inflation moving higher,” said eToro analyst Bret Kenwell.
German inflation rose in August for the first time this year, data showed Friday, which could lessen the chances for further European Central Bank rate cuts too. On tariffs, a US appeals court ruled on Friday that President Donald Trump exceeded his authority in tapping emergency economic powers to impose wide-ranging duties. The tariffs remained in place for now, though, and hitting out at the ruling, Trump said that “the United States of America will win in the end.”
Japan’s tariffs envoy cancelled a trip to Washington last week over plans for a presidential order including stepped-up Japanese purchases of US rice, the Nikkei reported.
– Key figures at around 0230 GMT –
Tokyo – Nikkei 225: DOWN 2.0 percent at 41,849.82
Hong Kong – Hang Seng Index: UP 2.0 percent at 25,596.32
Shanghai – Composite: UP 0.4 percent at 3,874.05
New York – Dow: DOWN 0.2 percent at 45,544.88 (close)
Euro/dollar: UP at $1.1705 from $1.1693 Friday
Pound/dollar: UP at $1.3519 from $1.3507
Dollar/yen: UP at 147.04 from 147.01 yen
Euro/pound: UP at 86.58 pence from 86.56 pence
West Texas Intermediate: DOWN 0.4 percent at $63.78 per barrel
Brent North Sea Crude: DOWN 0.4 percent at $67.21 per barrel
© 2024 AFP
