Asia report: Markets close lower after Trumpcare collapse

Markets in Asia were mostly lower on Monday, following the revelation on Friday that US President Donald Trump had failed to garner enough support for his much-trumpeted healthcare reform as it was rejected by the House of Representatives.

In Japan, the Nikkei 225 was down 1.44% to 18,995.59, with investors appearing to clamour to safe-haven assets including the yen.

It was last ahead 0.87% at JPY 110.37 per $1.

Shares in technology firm Toshiba lost 2% after reports emerged that its beleaguered US nuclear development acquisition Westinghouse could file for bankruptcy on Tuesday, before chasing support from Korea Electric Power.

On the mainland, the Shanghai Composite was down 0.08% at 3,266.82, while the smaller, technology-oriented Shenzhen Composite lost 0.36% to 2,039.4.

Chinese mainland property development firm Kaisa Group surged almost 60% on the Hong Kong bourse, as the stock returned to trading following a two year suspension on Monday.

South Korea’s Kospi was off 0.61% at 2,155.66, while the Hang Seng Index in Hong Kong lost 0.68% to 24,193.70.

Prosecutors in Seoul confirmed on Monday they would apply for a detention warrant for impeached President Park Geun-hye, after her alleged involvement in a large cash-for-influence corruption scandal that also saw Samsung Group chief Jay Lee arrested.

Hong Kong woke up to the news that civil servant Carrie Lam - who had enjoyed the support of the Beijing regime - was chosen to be the next chief executive of the special administrative region.

The election process in the region has long faced criticism, as only a specially-selected election committee can vote, leading to 1,194 votes cast on behalf of a population of over seven million.

Attention was also fixed stateside, as traders began to realise that President Trump’s so-called ‘art of the deal’ may not have the desired effect in the District of Columbia.

“The risk that markets are confronted with is one of Trump's deal-making claims succumbing to policy paralysis on Capitol Hill,” noted Mizuho Bank senior economist Vishnu Varathan on the global response to the healthcare reform failure.

Oil prices were lower during Asian trading, with Brent crude last down 0.53% at $50.53 per barrel and West Texas Intermediate losing 0.8% to $47.59.

In Australia, the S&P/ASX 200 was off 0.12% at 5,746.69, with the materials subindex dragging on the benchmark as it lost 1.52%.

Miner South32 said it was going to buy back up to $0.5bn of its shares on Monday, leading to a 1.84% fall in its stock on the Sydney bourse.

Another miner, BHP Billiton, was down 2.74% as the Escondida copper mine strike in Chile appeared to be coming to a close.

The debacle had left the Australian miner with a loss of around $1bn, and a number of analysts commenting that it had been left in a “weaker” position.

New Zealand’s S&P/NZX 50 lost 0.2% to close at 7,062.72, led lower by retirement property developer Summerset, which lost 2.9%.

Both of the down under dollars were stronger on the greenback, with the Aussie moving ahead 0.13% to AUS 1.3101 and the Kiwi surging 0.39% to NZD 1.4173 to the $1.