Asia-Pacific markets opened lower on Monday as local investors retreated on prospects of greater tariffs following an election-fuelled rally for U.S. stocks last week.
As of 11:35 am AEDT (12:35 am GMT), key indices in the Asia-Pacific region faced declines, with Australia’s ASX 200 down 0.3%, South Korea’s Kospi 200 slipping 0.6%, and Japan’s Nikkei 225 dipping 0.1%.
Last week’s election-driven surge in U.S. stocks, along with dovish Federal Reserve signals, contributed to last week's rally. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose nearly 260 points on Friday, posting a 4.6% weekly gain - its best in a year. The S&P 500 increased by 0.4% Friday, capping off a 4.7% gain for the week, while the Nasdaq edged up by 0.1%, with a 5.7% rise across the week.
Among the top gainers in the S&P 500, Axon Enterprise Inc surged 28.9%, Fortinet Inc gained 10%, and Insulet Corp rose by 9.4%.
The largest decliners included Akamai Technologies Inc, down 14.4%, Airbnb Inc, down 8.7%, and Mettler-Toledo International Inc, down 7.1%.
In commodity markets, Brent crude prices fell 2.3%, reaching US$73. per barrel, while gold dropped by 0.8% to $2,684. per ounce.
Chinese stocks closed lower, with the Shanghai Composite Index down 0.5% to 3,452.3, while the Shenzhen Composite declined 0.3% to 2,094.7.
China's consumer prices in October rose at their slowest pace in four months, according to data released on Saturday, while producer price deflation intensified despite Beijing's increased stimulus efforts to bolster the struggling economy.
Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index dropped 1.1%, ending at 20,728.2.
India’s BSE SENSEX, however, fell slightly by 0.1% to 79,486.3.
In Europe, markets closed on a negative note. The FTSE 100 Index in the U.K. lost 0.8% to end at 8,072.4. Germany’s DAX decreased by 0.8% to 19,215.5, while France’s CAC 40 dropped 1.2% to 7,338.7.