Aerial view of the Shanghai financial district skyscrapers and the Huangpu river at sunset.
Tobiasjo | E+ | Getty Images
Asia-Pacific markets traded lower Monday, after U.S. jobs report on Friday dampened investors’ hopes for early interest rate cuts by the Federal Reserve.
China’s exports and imports in December beat expectations by a significant margin. Exports rose 10.7% from a year earlier, beating Reuters’ expectations of a 7.3% year-on-year growth. The country’s imports in December unexpectedly rose 1%, compared with Reuters’ estimates of a 1.5% decline.
Mainland China’s benchmark CSI 300, fell 0.27% to 3,722.51, extending losses after having closed at its lowest level since September 2024 on Friday.
Investors in Asia will continue to keep an eye on Chinese bond yields after the country’s central bank suspended purchases of government bonds last Friday. China’s 10-year bond yield plunged to a record low this month.
The country’s onshore yuan hit a 16-month low against the dollar last week, while the offshore yuan has been on a multi-month slide since last September.
Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index was down 0.73% as of its final hour of trade, falling below 19,000 for the first time since last September, data from LSEG showed.
India is slated to report its inflation numbers later in the day. India’s Nifty 50 index lost 0.95% and the BSE Sensex was 0.80% lower.
South Korea’s Kospi lost 1.04% to close at 2,489.56 while the Kosdaq dipped 1.35% to close the trading day at…
