Asia-Pacific markets fell on Monday as Friday's U.S. jobs report dampened expectations for early Federal Reserve rate cuts.
By 11:50 am AEDT (12:50 am GMT), the ASX 200 and Kospi 200 had fallen 0.8% and 0.6%, respectively. The Nikkei 225 remained closed for a public holiday.
Among data releases, China is set to release its December trade data later in the day, while India will report its inflation figures.
Meanwhile, investors in Asia are closely monitoring Chinese bond yields after the country’s central bank halted government bond purchases last week.
Looking ahead, the Bank of Korea will meet on Thursday, while Australia is expected to release its December unemployment data on the same day. China will publish its fourth-quarter GDP figures on Friday, alongside retail sales and industrial output data.
In the U.S., stocks tumbled on Friday following a robust jobs report. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 696.8 points, or 1.6%, to close at 41,938.5. The S&P 500 dropped 1.5% to 5,827, and the Nasdaq Composite lost 1.6% to end at 19,161.6.
U.S. payrolls surged by 256,000 in December, surpassing economists' expectations of 160,000. The unemployment rate dipped to 4.1% from a projected 4.2%. Following the report, the yield on the 10-year Treasury note hit its highest level since late 2023.
Among individual companies, Walgreens Boots Alliance led gains with a 27.4% surge, followed by Constellation Energy Corp, which jumped 25.3%, and Delta Air Lines, up 9% after earnings as revenues exceeded expectations for the fourth quarter.
On the downside, Constellation Brands fell 17.1%, PG&E Corp dropped 10.8%, and ON Semiconductor Corp lost 7.5%.
In Asia, Chinese stocks closed lower, with the Shanghai Composite down 1.3% at 3,168.5 and the CSI 300 falling 1.3% to 3,732.5. The Hang Seng Index in Hong Kong dropped 0.9% to 19,064.3.
European markets also declined. The FTSE 100 slipped 0.9% to 8,248.49, Germany’s DAX fell 0.5% to 20,214.79, and France’s CAC 40 dropped 0.8% to 7,431.04.