People celebrate the New Year during a ceremony at the Juyongguan Great Wall (also known as Juyongguan) in Beijing, China, January 1, 2026.
Maxim Shemetov | Reuters
Asia-Pacific markets were mostly lower on Monday as investors assessed the Trump administration’s threat to Greenland over the weekend and China’s key economic data to be released on Monday.
Over the weekend, US President Donald Trump and European leaders engaged in tense exchanges over Arctic territory, with Trump threatening to impose tariffs on eight European countries and demanding control of Greenland, which is part of Denmark.
European leaders responded by calling the threat “completely wrong” and “unacceptable.”
In Asia, China released fourth-quarter GDP statistics, as well as retail sales, urban investment and industrial output figures for December.
Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index fell 1.07%, and mainland China’s CSI300 index also fell slightly.
Japanese Nikkei Stock Average fell 0.65% to end at 53,583.57, marking its third consecutive losing session, while Topix edged down to 3,656.4. Yields on Japan’s long-term government bonds rose to a new record.
The benchmark 10-year government bond yield was 2.279%, the highest level since 1999. Yields on 20-year and 30-year government bonds also hit record highs.
The Korean market bucks the broader trend; Kospi rose 1.32% to end at 4,904.66, while the small-cap Kosdaq rose 1.44% to end at 968.36.
Automaker Hyundai’s stock price soared 17.92% to a record high on Monday.
Australia’s S&P/Australian Stock Exchange 200 Index fell 0.33% to 8,874.5, dragged by tech stocks.
On the commodity side, spot silver and spot gold prices both hit record highs. Silver last traded at $93.38 per ounce, up over 3.88%, and gold last traded at $4,673.96 per ounce, up 1.72%.
In the US on Friday, the S&P 500 ended just below flat, marking a down week, while the Nasdaq Composite Index also fell 0.06%. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 0.17%.
Three major indexes hit intraday lows on Friday after President Trump said at the White House that he wanted National Economic Council Secretary Kevin Hassett to remain in his current role and that he might not be chosen to be the next Fed chairman.
Hassett is seen as a more market-friendly option than the new front-runner to replace the current Fed chairman, former Fed director Kevin Warsh, and is expected to demonstrate a desire to keep interest rates low.
—CNBC’s Sean Conlon and Pia Singh contributed to this report.
