ASIA-PAC EQUITY WRAP: Asian stocks declined after Wall St suffered its worst week since the start of the pandemic

Analysis details (06:04)

Asian equity markets traded mostly negatively after last Friday's losses on Wall St where the S&P 500 fell beneath its 200DMA and along with the Nasdaq suffered their worst weekly performance since the start of the pandemic, and although US equity futures nursed losses, this failed to inspire most bourses in Asia as ongoing geopolitical concerns and the looming FOMC meeting added to the cautious mood. ASX 200 (-0.5%) was dragged lower by weakness across mining names including South32 after it reported lower production figures and with the mood also hampered by mixed PMI data which showed a contraction for the Services and Composite PMI components. Nikkei 225 (+0.2%) was pressured after similar discouraging PMI data and with an additional 16 areas seeking virus measures, but eventually clawed back losses as JPY reversed some of the unfavourable currency inflows. Hang Seng (-1.0%) and Shanghai Comp. (-0.1%) were varied with large tech front running the slump in Hong Kong including Alibaba shares after affiliate Ant Group was said to be connected to the corruption case of former Hangzhou Party Secretary Zhou Jiangyong, although the mainland was cushioned after the PBoC provided a greater liquidity injection heading into next week’s Lunar New Year holidays and lowered rates on its 14-day reverse repos after the similar action to several key rates last week.

24 Jan 2022 - 06:02- Fixed IncomeData- Source: Newsquawk