People wearing face masks walk in front of the Hong Kong skyline on October 17, 2022 in Hong Kong, China.
Vernon Yuen | Nurphoto | Getty Images
Stocks in Hong Kong and mainland China markets fell sharply on Monday while other major Asia-Pacific markets rose.
that of Hong Kong Hang Seng Index fell about 6% to its lowest levels since April 2009, as the Hang Seng Tech index fell more than 8%.
Tai Hui, chief APAC market strategist at JPMorgan Asset Management, said a combination of factors has boosted the Hong Kong market recently, including rising US Treasury yields.
Investors may also have been expecting policy measures to be announced at the 20th National Congress of the Communist Party of China, which ended over the weekend with loyal supporters of President Xi Jinping mobilizing to form a core leadership group.
“Since the meeting is mostly about personnel changes, the economic recovery may not come as quickly as we hoped,” Tai told CNBC in an email.
Mainland China markets briefly entered positive territory better than expected economic data before falling back. The Shanghai Composite in mainland China was 0.89% lower and the Shenzhen Component lost 0.725%.
In Australia, the S&P/ASX 200 was 1.48% higher. The Kospi in South Korea gained 0.77% and the Kosdaq gained 1.87%.
from Japan Nikki 225 climbed by 0.49% and the Topix by 0.41%. MSCI’s broadest Asia Pacific ex-Japan equity index was down 1.18%.
Japanese authorities reportedly intervened in the foreign exchange market on Friday, causing the yen strengthen strongly. But the currency continued to swing. On Monday in Asia, the currency briefly strengthened to 145 levels but was last at 148.85 to the dollar.
US stocks rose on Friday after a Wall Street Journal report that some Fed officials are too afraid to tighten policy. On Friday in the United States, the Dow Jones Industrial Average jumped 748.97 points, or 2.47%, to close at 31,082.56. The S&P 500 added 2.37% to 3,752.75. The Nasdaq Composite climbed 2.31% to 10,859.72.
Markets in Singapore, Malaysia and India are closed for a bank holiday Monday. Later this week the Bank of Japan will meet, while Singapore and Australia are expected to release inflation data.