Several Asian markets closed the session lower on Monday as investors looked ahead to U.S. inflation data for September.
In Hong Kong, the Hang Seng index was the worst performer among its peers, down 1.6% as heavyweight technology stocks sank with Alibaba Group the biggest decliner, losing more than 3% after the e-commerce giant said its outgoing CEO Daniel Zhang will resign as CEO and chairman of its cloud unit.
Japan’s Nikkei 225 fell 0.2% as Bank of Japan Governor Kazuo Ueda said that the bank could potentially consider a pivot away from negative interest rates, ending the decades of monetary support.
In China, the Shanghai Composite advanced 0.8%.
China’s consumer-price index (CPI) rose 0.1% year-over-year in August, returning to growth after a 0.3% contraction in July and beating economists’ expectations of a narrow decline. Factory gate prices measured by the producer-price index (PPI) fell just 3% after a steeper, 4.4% drop in July.
Elsewhere:
Australia’s ASX 200 was flat.
South Korea’s KOSPI rose 0.2%.