China Stocks Lead Gains in Asia-Pacific; India Markets Plunge as Covid Infections Continue to Surge

Investors watch computer screens at a stock exchange hall on July 13, 2020 in Nanjing, Jiangsu Province of China.
Jiang Ning | VCG | Getty Images
  • India's markets tumbled in Monday trade as both the Nifty 50 and BSE Sensex dropped around 2% each, as of about 1:52 p.m. local time. The losses came as the Covid-19 situation in the country remains severe and weighs on investor sentiment.
  • Hong Kong-listed shares of Alibaba slipped 1.53% on Monday. That came after Ant Group said in a tweet that a recent report by Reuters that the firm was looking at ways for Jack Ma to exit were "untrue and baseless."
  • Meanwhile, Trip.com shares in Hong Kong jumped about 4.55% from their issue price as they made their debut in the city on Monday.

SINGAPORE — Shares in Asia-Pacific mostly rose on Monday, though India's markets lagged as the country continues to see a surge in Covid-19 infections.

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Mainland Chinese stocks led gains among the region's major markets, with the Shanghai composite up 1.49% on the day to 3,477.55 while the Shenzhen component surged 2.894% to 14,117.80.

India markets drop

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India's markets tumbled in Monday trade as both the Nifty 50 and BSE Sensex dropped around 2% each, as of about 1:52 p.m. local time. The losses came as the Covid-19 situation in the country remains severe and weighs on investor sentiment.

On Sunday, India reported 261,500 new cases. The country now has the second highest number of cases globally, behind only the U.S., according to data compiled by Johns Hopkins University.

Alibaba shares slip

Hong Kong-listed shares of Alibaba slipped 1.53% on Monday. That came after Ant Group said in a tweet that a recent report by Reuters that the firm was looking at ways for Jack Ma to exit were "untrue and baseless."

Reuters reported over the weekend that financial technology giant Ant is "exploring options" for Ma to divest his stake in the firm and "give up control," citing "a source familiar with regulators' thinking and two people with close ties to the company."

Other Hong Kong-listed shares of Chinese tech firms were mixed, with Tencent down 0.79% while Baidu gained 1.74%. The Hang Seng TECH index jumped 1.39% on the day to 8,346.39.

Meanwhile, Trip.com shares in Hong Kong jumped about 4.55% from their issue price as they made their debut in the city on Monday.

The broader Hang Seng index in the city rose 0.47% to close at 29,106.15.

Other Asia-Pacific markets

Elsewhere, the Nikkei 225 in Japan closed little changed at 29,685.37 while the Topix index dipped 0.22% to end the trading day at 1,956.56. Japan's exports in March surged 16.1% as compared with a year earlier, Ministry of Finance data showed Monday. That was much higher than the 11.6% increase expected by economists in a Reuters poll.

Meanwhile, South Korea's Kospi closed largely flat at 3,198.84 while the S&P/ASX 200 in Australia rose fractionally to finish the trading day at 7,065.60.

MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan rose about 0.2%.

Currencies and oil

The U.S. dollar index, which tracks the greenback against a basket of its peers, was at 91.248 after a recent decline from above 91.8.

The Japanese yen traded at 108.07 per dollar, stronger than levels above 109.2 against the greenback seen last week. The Australian dollar changed hands at $0.7772, having risen from below $0.768 last week.

Oil prices edged higher in the afternoon of Asia trading hours, with international benchmark Brent crude futures rising fractionally to $66.80 per barrel. U.S. crude futures gained 0.11% to $63.20 per barrel.

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