Shares in Asia-Pacific declined on Monday as oil prices surged, with the ongoing Russia-Ukraine war continuing to weigh on investor sentiment globally.
In Japan, the Nikkei 225 index blundered 764.06 points, or 2.9%, to 25,221.41, with shares of robot maker Fanuc plunging 7.7%, Inpex rose 6.8% and Japan Petroleum Exploration advanced 3.9%.
The Japanese yen traded at 114.95 per dollar, after strengthening sharply late last week from levels above 115.20 against the greenback
In Hong Kong, the Hang Seng index swooned 847.66 points, or 3.9%, to 21,057.63, dropping more than 4% at one point before seeing a slight recovery. The city’s benchmark index closed 3.87% lower on Monday as shares of HSBC plummeted 7.09%.
Hong Kong-listed shares of PetroChina gained 4.4%.
Shares of oil firms in Asia-Pacific saw big gains on Monday, with Beach Energy in Australia rising 6.3% while Woodside Petroleum soared 9.5% while the S&P/ASX 200’s energy subindex climbed 5.3%.
The Australian dollar was at $0.7408, following a general upward trek last week from below $0.72.
CHINA
In Shanghai, the CSI 300 fell 143.65 points, or 3.2%, to 4,352.78.
China’s exports rose 16.3% year-on-year in dollar-denominated terms in the January-February period, official data released Monday showed. That was above expectations by analysts in a Reuters poll for a 15% rise.
China had announced Saturday a gross domestic product growth target of about 5.5% for 2022.
In other markets
In Singapore, the Straits Times index lost 38.96 points, or 1.2%, to 3,187.82.
In Korea, the Kospi index gave back 62.12 points, or 2.3%, to 2,651.31.
In Taiwan, the Taiex index plummeted 557.83 points, or 3.2%,m to 17,178.69.
In New Zealand, the NZX 50 dropped 228.49 points, or 1.9%, to 11,913.27.
In Australia, the ASX 200 docked 72.24, or 1%, to 7,038.59.