Asian stocks turned in a mixed performance on Monday as concerns over surging coronavirus cases in the U.S. and rising tensions between Washington and Beijing offset positive Chinese data.
Chinese and Hong Kong stocks fell after Reuters reported in an exclusive that the United States is preparing to impose sanctions on at least a dozen Chinese officials over their alleged role in Beijing's disqualification of elected opposition legislators in Hong Kong.
China's Shanghai Composite index dropped 27.98 points, or 0.81 percent, to 3,416.60, while Hong Kong's Hang Seng index ended down 329.07 points, or 1.23 percent, at 26,506.85.
China's exports surged in November driven by robust global demand, data from the General Administration of Customs showed today. Exports advanced 21.1 percent year-on-year in November, much bigger than the economists' forecast of 12 percent.
At the same time, imports grew moderately by 4.5 percent annually, which was also faster than the 6.1 percent increase expected by economists.
As a result, the trade surplus increased to $75.4 billion in November. Economists had forecast the surplus to fall to $53.5 billion from $58.44 billion in the previous month.
Japanese shares pulled back from over 29-1/2-year high after five straight weeks of gains. The Nikkei average ended down 203.80 points, or 0.76 percent, at 26,547.44, after having hit its highest level since April 1991 at the open.
The broader Topix index closed 0.86 percent lower at 1,760.75 as rising coronavirus cases in Japan overshadowed stimulus hopes.
Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga said the government would decide on an economic stimulus package early this week to cushion the blow from the coronavirus pandemic.
Olympus Corp, ANA Holdings and Kawasaki Kisen Kaisha fell more than 5 percent while Toppan Printing surged 6.8 percent and Denka climbed 5.5 percent.
Advertising giant Dentsu Group ended 0.6 percent lower after saying it expects a smaller net loss for the year ending in December.
Australian shares hit over nine-month high as rising iron ore prices helped push miners higher. The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 rose 40.90 points, or 0.62 percent, to 6,675, extending gains to a fifth session. The broader All Ordinaries index ended up 43.60 points, or 0.64 percent, at 6,908.90.
BHP, Rio Tinto and Fortescue Metals Group rallied 2-4 percent after China iron ore prices hit a record high on Friday. Metcash soared 10.3 percent after the wholesaler reported a jump in its half-year earnings.
Downer EDI climbed 3.6 percent after MACA confirmed it is an interested buyer of its Western mining services division. Santos advanced 3.3 percent after it signed a deal with a Mitsubishi subsidiary to supply LNG to its Barossa project off the coast of the Northern Territory.
Seoul stocks rose for the fifth straight session, with chipmakers and healthcare stocks rallying after the government imposed stricter social-distancing measures.
The benchmark Kospi edged up 13.99 points, or 0.51 percent, to 2,745.44. Samsung Electronics rose 2 percent, SK Hynix advanced 2.6 percent and Samsung Biologics soared 6.7 percent.
New Zealand shares eked out modest gains, with the benchmark NZX-50 index adding 24.64 points, or 0.20 percent, to close at 12,656.02. Tilt Renewables shares soared over 16 percent to hit a record high after its top shareholder Infratil said it intends to undertake a strategic review of its shareholding in the company.
U.S. stocks hit record closing highs on Friday as positive news around coronavirus vaccine rollouts and signs that Congress is moving closer to a stimulus package helped investors shrug off data showing the slowest U.S. jobs growth in six months.
Government data showed non-farm payroll employment rose by 245,000 jobs in November after increasing by a downwardly revised 610,000 jobs in October.
Economists had expected employment to increase by 469,000 jobs compared to the addition of 638,000 jobs originally reported for the previous month.
Despite the weaker than expected job growth, the unemployment rate dipped to 6.7 percent in November from 6.9 percent in October.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.8 percent, the tech-heavy Nasdaq climbed 0.7 percent and the S&P 500 added 0.9 percent.
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