Stocks in the Asia-Pacific mostly fell on Monday as a stronger-than-expected jobs report from the U.S. worrying investors the Federal Reserve has room for more interest rate hikes, as it continued its efforts to control inflation.
In Japan, the Nikkei 225 index gained 184.91 points, or 0.7%, to 27,693.65.
The Bank of Japan has approached its deputy governor Masayoshi Amamiya to potentially succeed Haruhiko Kuroda in leading the central bank, Nikkei reported, citing people familiar.
Nikkei reported that the Japanese government and ruling party officials have discussed the matter with the current deputy governor.
Japan’s government will present to the parliament its central bank nominees to take the leadership role as Kuroda’s term ends on April 8, the report added.
In Hong Kong, the Hang Seng Index crumbled 438.31 points, or 2%, to 21,222.16, as property and technology stocks led losses.
Australia’s retail trade volume fell by 0.2% in the final quarter of 2022 compared to the previous quarter, according to seasonally adjusted data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics.
The decline is less than the 0.6% drop expected by economists in a Reuters poll.
Retail trade volumes fell by 3.9% on a monthly basis, and rose 7.5% compared to the same period a year ago.
In other markets
The Shanghai CSI 300 dumped 54.75 points, or 1.3%, to 4,086.88.
In Korea, the Kospi dropped 42.21 points, or 1.7%, to 2,438.19.
In Singapore, the Straits Times nicked higher 1.64 points, or 0.1%, to 3,385.93.
In Taiwan, the Taiex dumped 209.84 points, or 1.3%, to 15,392.82.
In Australia, the ASX 200 slid 19.13 points, or 0.3%, to 7,538.98.
Markets in New Zealand were shuttered for holiday.