Asia-Pacific markets opened lower on Monday, mirroring Wall Street’s sharp declines last Friday, as investors reacted to weak United States economic data that heightened concerns over persistent inflation and slowing growth.
By 11:45 am AEDT (12:45 am GMT) Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 extended its losing streak to a sixth consecutive session, falling 0.2%, while South Korea’s Kospi fell 0.9%.
Meanwhile, Japanese markets remained closed for a public holiday.
The losses followed a steep sell-off in U.S. equities, where all three major indices ended Friday’s session sharply lower.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 748.63 points, or 1.7%, to close at 43,428, marking its worst decline of the year. The S&P 500 slid 1.7% to 6,013.1, while the Nasdaq Composite tumbled 2.2% to 19,524.
The University of Michigan’s consumer sentiment index dropped to 64.7 in February, down nearly 10% from the previous reading, while its five-year inflation outlook surged to 3.5%, the highest since 1995.
Market sentiment weakened further on fears of additional policy actions by U.S. President Donald Trump, who has already proposed a wave of tariffs within a month of taking office.
Commodities also saw declines, with Brent crude oil falling 2.7% to US$74.43 per barrel and gold edging down 0.10% to US$2,936.05 per ounce.
Despite the broader downturn, Chinese and Hong Kong equities bucked the trend. The Shanghai Composite Index gained 0.8% to 3,379.1, while the CSI 300 rose 1.3% to 3,978.4.
Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index surged 4.0% to 23,477.9.
Elsewhere, India’s BSE Sensex dropped 0.6% to 75,311.1.
U.K. stocks finished flat, with the FTSE 100 unchanged at 8,659.4. European markets closed mixed, with Germany’s DAX slipping 0.1% to 22,287.6, while France’s CAC 40 gained 0.4% to 8,154.5.
