Drone view of Shanghai skyline at sunrise.
Aerial Perspective Image | Moment | Getty Images
Asia-Pacific markets opened mixed on Monday as investors awaited key economic data from the United States and China later in the week, while French overnight election results showed a hung parliament.
France’s left-wing New Popular Front coalition unexpectedly thwarted a far-right offensive on Sunday, winning the most seats but falling short of an outright majority in a parliamentary runoff.
Investors await Thursday’s U.S. consumer price index data to assess the Federal Reserve’s interest rate path, while China’s inflation data will provide an indication of the country’s economic recovery.
Decisions from the central banks of South Korea, New Zealand and Malaysia are also due to be announced this week, but no changes are expected, a Reuters poll of economists showed.
Japan’s Nikkei 225 Index It fell slightly, while the Topix fell 0.36%. The losses come as Japan’s real wages have fallen for 26 consecutive months.
Data from the country’s Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare show that Real wages fell by 1.4% year-on-year in May Although nominal wages rose 1.9% to 297,151 yen ($1,850). May’s figure also represented the fastest wage growth in 11 months.
Korean Cospi Trading was near flat, with the small-cap Kosdaq up 0.86%. Shares of heavyweight Samsung Electronics rose 0.46% even as the company’s largest union is scheduled to begin a three-day strike on Monday.
Reuters reports The National Samsung Electronics Union (NSEU), which has about 28,000 members, has asked the company to improve its performance-based bonus system and provide workers with an extra day of annual leave.
It’s unclear how many workers will join the strike, but the union’s poll found that as of Monday morning, about 8,100 members said they would go on strike.
Hongkong Hang Seng Index The CSI 300 index fell 0.46%, and the CSI 300 index fell 0.3%, falling for the fifth consecutive trading day, hitting its lowest level since February.
Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 index fell 0.36%, falling for a second consecutive day.
The S&P 500 and Nasdaq Composite index both hit record highs on Friday as the latest jobs report reignited hopes of a rate cut from the Federal Reserve.
The broader index rose 0.54% to close at 5,567.19 points, while the technology-heavy Nasdaq rose 0.90% to close at 18,352.76 points.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.17%.
—CNBC’s Pia Singh and Alex Harring contributed to this report.
About The Author
