SINGAPORE — Shares in Asia-Pacific traded mixed on Monday as investors in the region reacted to Chinese economic data releases, including the country’s GDP print for the fourth quarter.
Mainland Chinese stocks were higher by the afternoon, with the Shanghai composite up 0.7% while the Shenzhen component advanced 1.309%. The Hang Seng index in Hong Kong rose 0.49%.
The moves came after China reported its GDP rose 2.3% last year as the world fought to contain the coronavirus pandemic. That compared against economists expectations for GDP expansion by just over 2%. Still, retail sales in the country declined, contracting 3.9% for the year.
Elsewhere, the Nikkei 225 in Japan fell 0.89% while the Topix index slipped 0.58%. South Korea’s Kospi also dropped 1.48%.
Over in Australia, the S&P/ASX 200 declined 0.8%.
Singapore’s Straits Times index in the country dipped 0.73%. Singapore’s non-oil domestic exports grew 6.8% on a year-on-year basis in December, according to data released Monday. That was above a forecast by economists for a 0.3% increase, according to Reuters.
India’s Nifty 50 last traded about 0.5% lower. Reuters reported that India’s Covid-19 vaccination drive was hit by delays as a result of glitches in an app used to coordinate the campaign, citing officials in some states.
MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares excluding Japan dipped 0.32%.
Meanwhile, Reuters reported that the Trump administration notified several suppliers to Chinese telecommunications giant Huawei — including chipmaker Intel — that it is revoking certain licenses to sell to the Chinese firm. That comes just days ahead of U.S. President-elect Joe Biden’s inauguration on Wednesday.
Markets in the U.S. are closed on Monday for a holiday.
Currencies and oil
The U.S. dollar index, which tracks the greenback against a basket of its peers, was at 90.823 after seeing levels below 90.3 recently.
The Japanese yen traded at 103.73 per dollar, stronger than levels above 104.1 against the greenback seen last week. The Australian dollar changed hands at $0.7691 following a slide late last week from levels above $0.775.
Oil prices were lower in the afternoon of Asia trading hours, with international benchmark Brent crude futures down 0.96% to $54.57 per barrel. U.S. crude futures shed 0.82% to $51.93 per barrel.
— CNBC’s Evelyn Cheng contributed to this report.
Source: CNBC