SINGAPORE – Asia Pacific stocks rose for the most part on Monday, although India’s markets lagged as the country continues to see a surge in Covid-19 infections.
Mainland stocks rallied in key markets in the region, with the Shanghai Composite rising 1.49% on the day to 3,477.55 while the Shenzhen Component rose 2.894% to 14,117.80.
The Indian markets are falling
India’s markets fell on Monday as both the Nifty 50 and BSE Sensex fell more than 2% each as the country’s Covid-19 situation remains grave and weighs on investor sentiment.
India reported 261,500 new cases on Sunday. According to the Johns Hopkins University, the country has the second highest number of cases in the world after the US.
Alibaba stocks slide
Alibaba’s Hong Kong-listed shares were down 1.44% on Monday afternoon. It came after Ant Group said in a tweet that a recent report by Reuters that the company was looking for ways to get Jack Ma out was “untrue and unfounded”.
Reuters reported over the weekend that financial technology giant Ant “is looking for ways” to divest Ma its stake in the company and give up control, citing a source familiar with the thinking of regulators and two people who are closely involved are associated with the company. “”
Other Hong Kong-listed Chinese technology company stocks were mixed, with Tencent down 0.87% and Meituan up 0.55%. The Hang Seng TECH Index rose 1.48%.
Meanwhile, Trip.com shares in Hong Kong rose more than 4% from their afternoon trading price as they debuted in the city on Monday.
The city’s broader Hang Seng Index rose 0.43% at the last trading hour.
Other Asia Pacific Markets
The Japanese Nikkei 225 closed barely changed at 29,685.37 while the Topix index fell 0.22% to end the day at 1,956.56. Japan’s exports rose 16.1% yoy in March, data from the Treasury Department showed on Monday. That was much more than the 11.6% increase expected by economists in a Reuters poll.
South Korean Kospi closed broadly unchanged at 3,198.84 while the S & P / ASX 200 in Australia rose slightly to end the day at 7,065.60.
MSCI’s broadest index for stocks in the Asia-Pacific region outside of Japan rose approximately 0.1%.
Currencies and oil
The US dollar index, which tracks the greenback versus a basket of its peers, hit 91.498 after falling over 91.8 recently.
The Japanese yen was trading at 108.46 per dollar, stronger than above 109.2 against the greenback last week. The Australian dollar changed hands at $ 0.7741 after rising below $ 0.768 last week.
Oil prices fell in the afternoon of Asian trading hours, with the international benchmark’s Brent crude oil futures falling 0.49% to $ 66.44 a barrel. The US crude oil futures were also down 0.46% to $ 62.84 a barrel.
