The Asia-Pacific markets were mixed on Monday as investors analyzed China’s press briefing over the weekend and awaited economic data from the region. Mainland China’s CSI 300 rose 1.5% in volatile trading, while Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index dropped 0.4%. The Hang Seng Mainland Properties Index saw a gain of about 1%, while the Hang Seng Tech index fell 1.6%. China’s Finance Minister Lan Fo’an hinted at more debt issuance to boost the economy during the briefing, stating that the government had room to increase deficit.
China’s deflation concerns grew in September, with consumer prices increasing at the slowest pace in three months at 0.4% from a year earlier. The producer price index fell by 2.8%, the sharpest decline in six months, missing economist expectations. China is expected to release its trade data for September, with exports predicted to grow by 6%, slower than the 8.7% in August, and imports estimated to grow 0.9%, compared to 0.5% in August. China will also be releasing third-quarter GDP, industrial output growth, retail sales, and unemployment rate data this week.
Japan’s market was closed for a holiday, while Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 was up by 0.44% and South Korea’s Kospi gained 1%, with the Kosdaq index falling slightly by 0.23%. Meanwhile, in the US, stock futures were relatively unchanged in overnight trading Sunday as investors awaited key corporate earnings. Futures on the Dow Jones Industrial Average were near the flatline, S&P 500 index futures were flat, and Nasdaq-100 futures dipped by 0.1%. Overall, there was a mix of positive and negative movements in various markets across the Asia-Pacific region, with investors carefully monitoring developments in China and upcoming economic data releases.
