Asia-Pacific stocks fell on Monday as the Chinese market dropped due to a decline in property firms, while Japan’s service inflation surged to a 45-month high.
Data showed Japan’s service PPI rose 2.3% in October to its highest level since January 2020 and more than the prior month’s reading of 2%.
On Monday, China’s industrial profits continued to shrink in November, but at its slowest pace in almost a year, according to data released by the government.
The world’s second largest economy will release its official factory activity figures for November on Thursday, while the Caixin survey for the same metric will be out on Friday.
Australia will release its October inflation figures on Wednesday, which will offer clues to its central bank’s policy moves. India’s gross domestic product numbers for the three months ended September will be released late Thursday.
Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index pared much of its falls by the final hour of trading to dip 0.12%, while mainland Chinese markets closed in negative territory, with the CSI 300 index falling 0.74% to 3,511.94.
In Australia, the S&P/ASX 200 closed 0.76% lower at 6,987.60.
Japan’s Nikkei 225 also slipped 0.53%, closing at 33,447.67 and moving away from its 33-year high of 33,753.33 on July 3. The Topix, meanwhile, shed 0.38%, ending the day at 2,381.76.
South Korea’s Kospi dipped marginally to end at 2,495.66, while the small-cap Kosdaq was down 0.58% at 810.25
| TICKER | COMPANY | NAME | PRICE | CHANGE | %CHANGE |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| .N225 | Nikkei 225 Index | *NIKKEI | 33431.51 | -55.38 | -0.17 |
| .HSI | Hang Seng Index | *HSI | 16830.3 | -212.58 | -1.25 |
| .AXJO | S&P/ASX 200 | *ASX 200 | 7073.2 | -14.1 | -0.2 |
| .SSEC | Shanghai | *SHANGHAI | 3031.64 | 1.96 | 0.06 |
| .KS11 | KOSPI Index | *KOSPI | 2505.01 | -30.28 | -1.19 |
| .FTFCNBCA | CNBC 100 ASIA IDX | *CNBC 100 | 8404.81 | -25.82 | -0.31 |
On Friday in the U.S., the three major indexes were mixed in a shortened trading session.
The 30-stock Dow rose 0.33% while the S&P 500 ticked higher by 0.06%. However, the tech heavy Nasdaq Composite fell 0.11%.
Major retail shares rose slightly as Black Friday kicked off the holiday shopping season. Walmart and Target rose 0.9% and 0.74%, respectively, while Amazon ticked higher by 0.02%.
The Beijing Stock Exchange has asked major shareholders of listed companies not to reduce holdings even if they are eligible to do so, Reuters reported.
Citing people familiar with the matter, Reuters said this was due to fears that such moves could “dull market excitement.”
According to LSEG data, the Beijing Stock Exchange 50 Index has largely been on an uptrend since October, registering a one month gain of 44.72% and three month gain of 44.75%.
These gains were due to stocks rising on the back of supportive measures, Reuters reported.
The Beijing exchange and the China Securities Regulatory Commission did not immediately reply to Reuters’ requests for comment.
Hong Kong-listed China property stocks slid on Monday, leading declines among other sectors on Monday.
Shares of property developers including Logan Group
, China Vanke
, Sunac
and Longfor Group
fell between 4% and 8%.
The Hang Seng Mainland Properties index, housing real estate firms, dropped 3.51%.
It was reported over the weekend that Beijing police was investigating debt-laded Chinese shadow bank Zhongzhi Enterprise Group.
Zhongzhi last week declared insolvency in a letter to its investors.
China’s CSI 300 index fell 1.19%, leading declines among major Asia markets.
China’s industrial profit continued to decline in November, but at its slowest pace in almost a year, according to government data.
The reading showed profits at industrial enterprises in China decreased 7.8% in the January-to-October period from a year earlier, declining at the slowest pace since December 2022.
The drop was smaller than the 9% decline recorded in September.
Data highlights China’s uneven post-pandemic recovery and the need for more stimulus to boost market confidence.
China’s CSI 300 index fell 0.75%, minutes after the open following the data release.
Jun Ohta, group CEO of Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group, passed away on Saturday at the age of 65, the Japanese financial conglomerate said.
SMFG announced on Monday that deputy president Toru Nakashima will take over Ohta’s duties for the time being.
The company also added that it would be selecting a successor, and will announce the decision “in a timely manner.”
Chinese tech players like Baidu
, Alibaba
and Tencent
have largely been viewed favorably been investors, even as the Asian powerhouse has been having slower growth.
One tech giant, however, stands out to portfolio manager Brian Arcese.
The Dow
is on track to post its longest weekly winning streak in about half of a year.
With just a few hours left in Friday’s shortened trading day, the blue-chip index is poised to finish the week up nearly 1%. If that holds, it would mark the first time the index has notched four straight winning weeks since a streak that ended in April.
Individual investor bullishness about the outlook for stocks over the next six months climbed again for a third week, to 45.3% from 43.8%, according to the latest survey from the American Association of Individual Investors. That marked the highest level of optimism since August 2, or almost four months ago.
Bullishness stayed above the historical average of 37.5% for a third consecutive week.
Conversely, retail investor bearishness dropped to 23.6% in the latest week, down from 28.1% — the lowest level of pessimism also since Aug. 2 and also the third week in a row that bearish views were below the long-term, historical average of 31.0%. Neutral opinion rose to 31.1% from 28.1%, the highest since mid-October.
The latest survey isn’t great news for contrarians who try and bet against the market, believing that lofty bullishness means a lot of investor stock purchases have already been made and there’s less cash on the sidelines that will be willing to commit to stocks.