Aerial view of vehicles traveling on a road through the central business district of Beijing, China.
Video Visual China Group | Getty Images
Asia-Pacific markets fell on Monday after Wall Street fell in the US on Friday as investors took a breather from AI trading.
“(Friday) is the day when value outpaces growth,” said Jed Ellerbrook, portfolio manager at Argent Capital Management. “Investors are definitely cautious when it comes to AI. I don’t think they’re completely pessimistic, but I think they’re just kind of cautious and nervous and hesitant.”
Asian traders will also be keeping an eye on key data from China, which will report retail sales, fixed asset investment and industrial output for November.
South Korea’s Kospi fell 1.84% to close at 4,090.59, while the small-cap Kosdaq rose 0.16% to 938.83. Top-ranked memory chip maker SK Hynix fell 2.98%, while Samsung Electronics fell 3.76%.
Japan announced its fourth quarter Tankan figures. The economic optimism index for Japan’s major manufacturers rose to +15 in the fourth quarter, the highest level in four years.
The latest reading compared with a rise of 14 in the previous quarter and was in line with expectations from economists polled by Reuters. The non-manufacturing index for the fourth quarter was +34.
The Tankan survey conducted by the Bank of Japan measures business confidence among businesses in the world’s fourth largest economy.
Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 fell 0.72% to close at 8,635. On Sunday, the country suffered its worst shooting in more than 30 years, leaving at least 15 people dead.
Japanese Nikkei Stock Average fell 1.31% to 50,168.11, while TOPIX rose 0.22% to 3,431.47.
hong kong Hang Seng Index The mainland’s CSI 300 index fell 0.63% to 4,552.06 following the release of a number of important economic indicators from China. Retail sales rose 1.3% last month from a year earlier, well below the Reuters median estimate of 2.8% growth and slowing from the previous month’s 2.9% rise.
Industrial production in November increased by 4.8% compared to the same month last year, down from 4.9% in the previous month, falling short of the expected 5% increase.
