The main stock market indices in the Asia-Pacific region moved mostly downward on Monday, after Wall Street ended the previous week’s decline with the decline of tech companies.
Exchanges on Asian stock exchanges were lower than usual, as is usually the case elsewhere during the winter holidays. A lower exchange can often lead to an atypically large exchange rate swing.
The exception to the bearish opening of the week was mainland China’s CSI 300 index, which was up 0.5 percent at the time of the review. Unlike elsewhere, many tech companies listed in mainland China were on the rise.
By 8 a.m. Finnish time, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index fluctuated in Friday’s closing readings. Semiconductor manufacturer partially owned by the Chinese state Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corp i.e. SMIC was up by 6.9 percent.
Japan’s Nikkei 225 index was down 0.8 percent, the broader Topix down 0.6 percent. Japanese tech stocks were broadly lower, as were many non-essential consumer goods producers and distributors.
Taiwan’s Taiex index was down 0.4 percent at the time of the review, South Korea’s Kospi index was down 0.2 percent. Australia’s S&P/ASX 300 index was down 0.3 percent.
The future predicting the European Euro Stoxx 50 index was in a gentle decline at the time of review. The futures of Wall Street’s key indices also reported a bearish opening.
In Finland, consumer confidence sank again
In Finland, Statistics Finland published on Monday, among other things, the consumer confidence index for December, which weakened even more at the turn of the year: the index dropped to -8.6 points from -7.4 points the previous month. A year ago in December, the index was at -13.3 points.
On Monday in the United States, among other things, the Chicago purchasing managers’ index will be published, which is expected to have improved since November.
On Tuesday, instead, the Purchasing Managers’ Index of China’s industry will be published, for example, which gives a hint of China’s economic recovery. Based on the forecast compiled by Bloomberg, the index reading is not expected to improve.
On New Year’s Eve, markets are closed widely in Europe, including in Finland. Wall Street, London, China and Hong Kong markets are also closed on New Year’s Day. The Japanese market is closed for the rest of the week from Tuesday.