Asian-Pacific markets opened mixed on Monday as investors closely watched the start of high-level U.S.-China talks in Madrid, where officials are addressing national security, economic, and trade issues, including U.S. tariffs and the looming deadline to divest Chinese-owned short video platform TikTok.
By 11:20 am AEST (1:20 am GMT), Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 slipped 0.5%. Japan’s Nikkei 225 was shut for a public holiday, while South Korea’s Kospi 200 continued to extend record valuations with a 0.3% gain.
China is due to release data later in the day covering retail sales, fixed asset investment, and the urban unemployment rate.
On Wall Street Friday, major indexes closed with mixed performances. The Nasdaq extended record highs, rising 0.4%, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 0.6% and the S&P 500 edged down 0.1%.
In commodities, Brent crude gained 0.9% to settle at US$66.99 a barrel, while spot gold eased 0.2% from recent record highs to US$3,643.09 an ounce.
Chinese equities closed lower Friday, with the Shanghai Composite dipping 0.1% to 3,870.6 despite touching its highest intraday level since 18 August 2015. The CSI 300 also slipped 0.6% to 4,522.0.
Elsewhere in the region, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index climbed 1.2% to 26,388.2, while India’s BSE Sensex rose 0.4% to finish at 81,904.7.
In Europe, markets were little changed. London’s FTSE 100 eased 0.2% to 9,283.3, Germany’s DAX slipped 0.02% to 23,698.2, and France’s CAC 40 edged up 0.02% to 7,825.2.
