SINGAPORE — Stocks in Asia-Pacific were higher in Monday trade, as investors monitored shares of China’s tech giants following the release of new anti-monopoly guidelines over the weekend.
Chinese tech shares rose despite concerns that Beijing was tightening restrictions on the country’s tech giants.
By Monday afternoon in Hong Kong, shares of Chinese tech giants listed in the city were mostly higher: Tencent advanced 0.82%, JD.com jumped 1.14% while Meituan gained 1.54%. Alibaba, on the other hand, dipped 0.16%.
China’s State Administration for Market Regulation released a new set of rules that will likely put pressure on leading internet services in the country such as Alibaba’s Taobao or Tencent’s WeChat Pay, according to Reuters. Separately, regulators on Monday slapped a 3 million yuan (nearly $500,000) fine on Vipshop — an online discount retailer — over anti-competitive acts, Reuters said.
The broader Hang Seng index in Hong Kong rose 0.66%. Mainland Chinese stocks also advanced: The Shanghai composite was up 1.06% while the Shenzhen component gained 1.673%.
Meanwhile, shares of South Korean automakers Hyundai Motor and Kia Motors plunged in Monday afternoon trade, falling 4.61% and 12.61%, respectively.
It came after the two firms announced they were “not in talks with Apple on autonomous vehicle development,” according to CNBC’s translation of their regulatory filings.
The Kospi in South Korea hovered above the flatline. In Japan, the Nikkei 225 rose about 1.85% while the Topix index gained 1.50%.
Meanwhile, shares in Australia advanced as the S&P/ASX 200 gained 0.76%.
MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan rose 0.66%.
Meanwhile, U.S. President Joe Biden said his administration was prepared for “extreme competition” with China, though his approach would be different than his predecessor.
“I’m not going to do it the way Trump did. We are going to focus on the international rules of the road,” Biden said in a CBS interview published Sunday. Biden also said during the interview that he had not spoken to Chinese President Xi Jinping yet since he was sworn in last month.
Currencies and oil
The U.S. dollar index, which tracks the greenback against a basket of its peers, was at 91.056 following a recent decline from levels above 91.2.
The Japanese yen traded at 105.47 per dollar, having weakened last week from levels below 104.8 against the greenback. The Australian dollar changed hands at $0.7678 following a spike last last week from levels below 0.762.
Oil prices were higher in the afternoon of Asia trading hours, with international benchmark Brent crude futures up around 1% to $59.92 per barrel. U.S. crude futures gained 1.06% to $57.45 per barrel.
— CNBC’s Amanda Macias and Chery Kang contributed to this report.
Source: CNBC