Asian markets ended mostly lower on Monday as stronger-than-expected jobs data fueled expectations of another 75-bps rate hike at the upcoming US Fed meeting later this month. Data showed that US non-farm payroll employment jumped by 372,000 jobs in June against forecast of 268,000 jobs, while the jobless rate stabilized at its historically low level of 3.6%. Chinese shares declined after Shanghai reported its first case of the highly infectious BA.5 omicron sub-variant and warned of very high risks, raised fears about more lockdowns. Meanwhile, markets are awaiting Chinese exports and imports data due on Wednesday. Hong Kong shares fell as Chinese technology firms Alibaba and Tencent Holdings led the declines after Chinese regulators fined their subsidiaries for not reporting past transactions as required. However, Japanese shares gained as investors cheered a landslide parliamentary election victory by the ruling Liberal Democratic Party.
Asian Indices | Last Trade | Change in Points | Change in % |
Shanghai Composite | 3,313.58 | -42.50 | -1.27 |
Hang Seng | 21,124.20 | -601.58 | -2.77 |
Jakarta Composite | 6,722.14 | -18.08 | -0.27 |
KLSE Composite | 1,425.79 | 7.10 | 0.50 |
Nikkei 225 | 26,812.30 | 295.11 | 1.11 |
Straits Times | -- | -- | -- |
KOSPI Composite | 2,340.27 | -10.34 | -0.44 |
Taiwan Weighted | 14,340.53 | -124.00 | -0.86 |
