An aerial view of the skyscrapers of Shanghai's financial district and the Huangpu River at sunset.
Tobiasjo | E+ | Getty Images
Asia-Pacific markets fell on Monday, after Friday's US jobs report dampened investors' hopes for an early cut in interest rates by the Federal Reserve.
Hong Kong Hang Seng Index Data from the London Stock Exchange showed that the index fell 1.6%, trading below 19,000 points for the first time since last September. Mainland China's CSI 300 index fell 0.75%, after closing at its lowest level since September 2024 on Friday.
China is scheduled to publish its December trade data later in the day, while India is expected to report inflation figures.
Japan's markets are closed for holiday. South Korea Cosby The Kosdaq Index lost 0.85%, while it fell by 0.53%.
Australia's S&P/ASX 200 index fell 1.17%.
Investors in Asia will continue to monitor Chinese bond yields after the country's central bank stopped buying government bonds last Friday. The yield on Chinese 10-year bonds fell to a record low this month.
The country's local yuan recorded its lowest level in 16 months against the dollar last week, while the yuan abroad has witnessed a decline for several months since last September.
Looking ahead to the rest of this week, the Bank of Korea is expected to meet on Thursday, and Australia is scheduled to announce its December unemployment rate on the same day. China will publish its GDP for the fourth quarter of 2024 on Friday, along with data on retail sales and industrial production.
US stocks fell on Friday after a hot jobs report.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average lost 696.75 points, or 1.63%, to close at 41,938.45 points. The S&P 500 Index fell 1.54% to 5,827.04 points, while the Nasdaq Composite Index fell 1.63% to 19,161.63 points. Friday's losses pushed major benchmarks into the red for 2025.
US jobs rose by 256,000 in December, while economists polled by Dow Jones expected to see an increase of 155,000. The unemployment rate, which was expected to remain at 4.2%, fell to 4.1% during the month. The yield on 10-year Treasury bonds rose to their highest level since late 2023 after the report.
— CNBC's Piya Singh and Sean Conlon contributed to this report.
