Asian stocks traded cautiously early Monday, with investors showing little reaction to the weekend’s G-7 meeting and hack of a South Korean cryptocurrency exchange. Following Friday’s broad regional declines, the Kospi
SEU, +0.57%
and the Nikkei were each up around 0.3% as the yen strengthened a bit since the end of Friday’s local stock trading.
With the Trump-Kim summit Tuesday and the world’s three most-important central banks — the Fed, European Central Bank and Bank of Japan — all meeting this week, investors are liable to do much more nibbling than eating for at least the next few days.
Japan’s Nikkei
NIK, +0.30%
rose slightly, though shipping stocks were taking a hit. That sector was down 2.8% amid continued trade tensions among some of the world’s biggest industrialized nations. Elsewhere, Sekisui House
1928, -6.41%
was the worst big-cap performer early on with a 6.4% slide after a big profit drop last quarter due to a slump in domestic housing businesses. But domestic-focused demand stocks were outperforming, with medical-information platform operator M3
2413, +1.69%
up 2% and beverage maker Yakult Honsha
2267, +2.11%
climbing 2%.
Hong Kong stocks started the week gingerly. The Hang Seng
HSI, +0.46%
was off 0.2% in early trade after rising 1.5% last week. Energy was a noted laggard, with Cnooc
0083, -0.28%
sliding about 1%. But financial and tech shares were slightly up, with heavyweight Tencent
0700, +1.40%
advancing 1.1% and Hang Seng Bank
0011, +1.00%
up 1%.
The Shanghai Composite
SHCOMP, -0.18%
was down 0.6% but the Shenzhen Composite
399106, +0.05%
was just 0.3% lower. Some put part of the selling to the looming start of Chinese depositary receipts and need for investors to raise money to put into such equities.
Singapore’s stocks rose in early action as attention turns to the Trump-Kim summit the city-state will host. The Straits Times Index
STI, +0.17%
was up 0.3%, led by gains in commodities and banking stocks.
New Zealand’s benchmark
NZ50GR, -0.24%
was off 0.3% after being the one index in Asia Pacific to rise on Friday. Australia’s markets are closed for a holiday.
Source : MTV
