Asian Markets Lower After Wall Street Record, China Trade Growth

Asian Markets Lower After Wall Street Record, China Trade Growth
A man walks past a bank's electronic board showing the Hong Kong share index at the Hong Kong Stock Exchange on Nov. 8, 2021. (Vincent Yu/AP Photo)
The Associated Press
11/8/2021
Updated:
11/8/2021

BEIJING—Global stock markets and Wall Street futures declined Monday after stronger U.S. hiring and a double-digit rise in Chinese exports.

London and Frankfurt opened lower. Tokyo, Hong Kong, and Sydney declined while Shanghai advanced.

U.S. employers hired more people than expected in October, according to government data released on Friday.

China’s October exports rose 27.1 percent over a year earlier, though that eased off the previous month’s 28.1 percent growth, customs data showed Sunday.

Despite that gain, Chinese anti-virus controls might dampen factory and consumer activity, “still bringing about an uncertain recovery picture,” Yeap Jun Rong of IG said in a report.

In early trading, the FTSE 100 in London was off less than 0.1 percent at 7,303.60. The DAX in Frankfurt lost less than 0.1 percent to 16,051.14. The CAC 40 in Paris gained 0.1 percent to 7,047.62.

On Wall Street, futures for the benchmark S&P 500 index and Dow Jones Industrial Average were down less than 0.1 percent.

On Friday, the S&P 500 rose 0.4 percent to a record after the government reported companies hired 531,000 people in October, more than the consensus forecast of 450,000.

The Dow gained 0.6 percent, also to a new high. The Nasdaq composite added 0.2 percent.

A woman walks past a bank's electronic board showing the Hong Kong share index at Hong Kong Stock Exchange on Nov. 8, 2021. (Vincent Yu/AP Photo)
A woman walks past a bank's electronic board showing the Hong Kong share index at Hong Kong Stock Exchange on Nov. 8, 2021. (Vincent Yu/AP Photo)

In Asia, Tokyo’s Nikkei 225 fell 0.4 percent to 29,507.05 while the Shanghai Composite Index gained 0.2 percent to 2,498.63. The Hang Seng in Hong Kong lost 0.4 percent to 34,763.77.

The Kospi in Seoul retreated 0.3 percent to 2,960.20 and Sydney’s S&P-ASX 200 lost less than 0.1 percent to 7,452.20.

India’s Sensex rose 0.9 percent to 60,588.11. New Zealand retreated while Southeast Asia markets rose.

This week, the U.S. government is due to report inflation. Investors are worried that the Federal Reserve and other central banks might feel pressure to cool rising prices by pulling back stimulus that is boosting stock prices.

Also Monday, China’s ruling Communist Party opened a leadership meeting amid signs leader Xi Jinping is laying the groundwork to pursue a third term as party leader next year.

Investors also hope for possible updates on policy toward technology and other industries after data security and anti-monopoly crackdowns on Chinese tech giants that began late last year wiped more than $1 trillion off their total stock market values.

In energy markets, benchmark U.S. crude oil rose 77 cents to $82.04 per barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. The contract gained $2.46 to $81.27 on Friday. Brent crude, the price basis for international oils, gained 74 cents to $83.48 per barrel in London. The previous session, it added $2.20 to $82.74.

The dollar gained to 113.50 yen from Friday’s 113.40 yen. The euro advanced to $1.1572 from $1.1550.

By Joe Mcdonald