Asian stock markets mostly fell on Monday due to concerns over China's weaker-than-expected stimulus measures and disappointing inflation data from the weekend, casting doubts on the recovery of the world's second-largest economy. Hong Kong markets saw a significant decline, down nearly 3 percent. On the previous Friday, Asian markets had closed with mixed results.
In Australia, the stock market opened significantly lower on Monday, retracting gains from the past three sessions. Despite positive trends from Wall Street, the benchmark S&P/ASX 200 index fell below the 8,300.00 mark. This drop was largely due to declining iron ore mining and energy stocks, consequent to falling commodity prices, which were slightly countered by gains in gold miners and tech stocks.
The S&P/ASX 200 Index decreased by 35.30 points or 0.43 percent, settling at 8,259.80 after an earlier low of 8,251.90. Meanwhile, the All Ordinaries Index dropped 38.30 points or 0.45 percent to 8,514.30. The Australian market had closed significantly higher on Friday.
Key mining players such as BHP Group and Rio Tinto each fell nearly 4 percent, Fortescue Metals dropped close to 5 percent, and Mineral Resources declined over 3 percent. Among oil companies, Beach Energy fell more than 1 percent, with similar losses for Woodside Energy and Santos, while Origin Energy edged up by 0.2 percent.
Tech stocks saw some gains, with Block, owned by Afterpay, increasing by over 1 percent, Appen by nearly 3 percent, Xero up almost 1 percent, WiseTech Global adding nearly 2 percent, and Zip rising by 4.5 percent.
The gold mining sector saw mostly positive movements. Evolution Mining and Gold Road Resources increased by 0.3 to 0.4 percent each, Northern Star Resources gained over 2 percent, and Newmont rose by more than 1 percent. However, Resolute Mining plunged almost 28 percent following the detainment of its CEO, Terry Holohan, by Mali's military-controlled government to discuss business conduct.
In the financial sector, National Australia Bank and ANZ Banking climbed 0.2 to 0.3 percent each, whereas Westpac declined nearly 1 percent and Commonwealth Bank remained unchanged.
Elsewhere, Endeavour Group shares fell over 5 percent after its subsidiaries, Dan Murphy's and BWS, warned of lower profits in the second half due to stagnant sales and increased promotions. Conversely, Novonix shares surged over 11 percent after confirming a supply deal with automotive manufacturer Stellantis for high-performance synthetic graphite for North American battery production partners.
In currency exchange, the Australian dollar was trading at $0.659.
Meanwhile, the Japanese stock market opened slightly lower on Monday, reversing gains from the previous session. The benchmark Nikkei 225 Index stood at 39,347.79, down 152.58 points or 0.39 percent, after reaching a low of 39,315.61. Japanese shares ended slightly higher last Friday.
Major market player SoftBank Group gained over 1 percent, while Fast Retailing, which operates Uniqlo, fell by 0.4 percent. In the auto sector, Honda lost over 1 percent, while Toyota was flat.
In technology, Screen Holdings and Tokyo Electron declined over 1 percent each, whereas Advantest edged up by 0.5 percent.
Among financial institutions, Sumitomo Mitsui Financial, Mizuho Financial, and Mitsubishi UFJ Financial were down nearly 1 percent each.
Major exporters generally showed positive trends; Panasonic climbed over 4 percent and Sony surged more than 6 percent, while Canon and Mitsubishi Electric dipped slightly.
Key losers included Kawasaki Heavy Industries and Socionext, both dropping more than 5 percent. Sumco, Nissan Motor, and Kubota lost nearly 5 percent each, alongside Secom, while Hitachi Construction Machinery and Shiseido declined nearly 4 percent each. Other companies sliding over 3 percent included Mitsui Fudosan, Ajinomoto, Ricoh, Olympus, Taisei, Mitsubishi Materials, and Daikin Industries.
Conversely, Furukawa Electric soared almost 15 percent, DeNA jumped nearly 14 percent, Fujikura increased over 7 percent, and Suzuki Motor rose more than 6 percent. Sumitomo Electric Industries and Nissui added over 3 percent each, with Terumo increasing by nearly 3 percent.
In currency trading, the U.S. dollar exchanged at the lower range of 153 yen.In other parts of Asia, Hong Kong experienced a decline of 2.7%, while markets in New Zealand, China, Singapore, South Korea, Malaysia, Indonesia, and Taiwan each saw a decrease ranging from 0.1% to 1.0%.
On Wall Street, stocks predominantly rose during the trading session on Friday, furthering the significant rally that has been occurring over the past few days. As a result of this continued upward trend, the primary market indices achieved new record-high closing levels.
While the major indices retreated slightly from their peak levels as the trading day concluded, they still remained in positive territory. Specifically, the Dow increased by 259.65 points, or 0.6%, reaching 43,988.99; the Nasdaq edged up by 17.32 points, or 0.1%, to 19,286.78; and the S&P 500 advanced by 22.44 points, or 0.4%, to 5,995.54.
Conversely, major European markets experienced declines. The French CAC 40 Index dropped by 1.2%, while both the U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index and the German DAX Index fell by 0.8%.
In the commodities market, crude oil prices plummeted on Friday due to concerns about future demand. This was triggered by data indicating a reduction in China's oil imports and disappointment regarding the scale of China's newest stimulus measures. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for December delivery fell by $1.98, or 2.7%, closing at $70.38 per barrel; nevertheless, the contract saw a 1% increase over the week.
