Asia report: Markets mixed ahead of key regional data

Markets across the Asia-Pacific region posted mixed performances on Monday as investors braced for a week of critical economic data.

Eyes were on China's loan prime rate (LPR), Japan's inflation figures, and Australia's central bank minutes all due later in the week.

“Global stocks started the week stronger ahead of Nvidia's highly anticipated earnings release,” said Patrick Munnelly at TickMill.

“South Korean markets jumped more than 2% on Monday, the biggest daily gain in two months, as Samsung Electronics rose 6% on promises to buy back shares.

“China's yuan was steady on Monday as the dollar's rally took a breather, while the central bank renewed its support through market guidance and signs of economic recovery helped rein in the currency's fall.”

Munnelly noted that in Japan, the central bank governor's speech provided no clarity on the country's rate outlook.

“The Bank of Japan governor reiterated that the central bank will raise rates if economic and price developments align with forecasts but did not mention a potential December hike.

“The Japanese yen has fallen around 7% since October against a resurgent dollar, reaching past JPY 156 per dollar for the first time since July, raising concerns about potential intervention from Japanese authorities.”

Markets mixed at start of busy week for data

In Japan, the Nikkei 225 dropped 1.09% to close at 38,220.85, with the broader Topix shedding 0.73%.

Key losses on Tokyo’s benchmark came from Dentsu, down 10.01%, and Chugai Pharmaceutical, which also fell 10%.

China's major indexes also faced declines - the Shanghai Composite edged down 0.21% to 3,323.85, while the Shenzhen Component sank 1.91% to 10,544.02.

Heavy losses in Shanghai were seen in Danhua Chemical Technology's B and A shares, which plunged 12.99% and 10.06%, respectively.

Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index bucked the trend, rising 0.77% to 19,576.61, driven by gains in Geely Automobile, up 4.4%; Bank of China, ahead 4.16%; and JD.com, which rose 3.62%.

South Korea's Kospi 100 jumped 2.3% to 2,470.50, with standout performances from Samsung Life, which surged 11.48%, and Hyundai Heavy Industries, up 6.56%.

Australia's S&P/ASX 200 managed a modest gain of 0.18%, closing at 8,300.20.

Mining and resource stocks led the charge in Sydney, with Alcoa Corporation climbing 6.45%.

Across the Tasman Sea, New Zealand's S&P/NZX 50 rose 0.63%, supported by gains of 5% in NZX, and 3.28% for Spark New Zealand.

In currency markets, the dollar was last up 0.43% on the yen to trade at JPY 154.97, as it gained 0.1% against the Aussie to AUD 1.5490, and advanced 0.37% on the Kiwi, changing hands at NZD 1.7111.

On the oil front, Brent crude futures were last up 0.73% on ICE to $71.56 per barrel, as the NYMEX quote for West Texas Intermediate grew 0.58% to $67.41.

Country Garden prepares for debt restructure, NZ producer prices jump

China’s embattled property sector was in the headlines on Monday, as developer Country Garden presented preliminary terms for an offshore debt restructuring to select creditors as it worked to stave off liquidation, according to reports.

The proposal included revised cash flow projections that reflect a weaker outlook compared to earlier estimates shared with offshore creditors.

In economic news, New Zealand’s output producer price index (PPI) surged 4.2% year-on-year in the third quarter, marking its fastest annual growth since March last year.

On a quarterly basis, the index rose 1.5%, its sharpest increase since the third quarter of 2022.

Meanwhile, Singapore's non-oil domestic exports (NODX) slumped 4.6% year-on-year in October, defying economist forecasts of a 2.6% increase.

The decline reversed the 0.9% gain seen in September.

On a month-on-month basis, NODX dropped 7.4%, a steeper fall than the 0.6% decline in the previous month and far below expectations of a 2.3% rise.

Reporting by Josh White for Sharecast.com.