Asian Stocks Fluctuated. What’s Happening on the Market?

Asia Pacific stocks fluctuated on Monday after U.S. futures suffered some losses during the previous session due to a lack of investor risk appetite. Besides, China published crucial data on its economic recovery process, which has also caused waves on the market.

China’s Shanghai Composite climbed up by 0.32% on Monday, while the Shenzhen Component increased by 0.71%. According to the latest data, industrial production grew by 7.3% year-on-year in December. That point surpasses some analysts’ forecasts by 6.9% and is higher by 7% of growth seen in November.

Furthermore, the data showed that GDP surged forward by 6.5% year-on-year in the fourth quarter. That number is above the forecast by 6.1%, showing the 4.9% growth in the third quarter only. The GDP increased by 2.6% quarter-on-quarter, but it is below the forecast by 3.2%.

Investors are concerned that U.S.-China tensions may rise again. According to reports, the U.S. government notified several Huawei Technologies Co. suppliers, Intel Corporation being among them, that the authorities revoked their licenses to work with the Chinese company. Reportedly, other license applications have been rejected as well.

Meanwhile, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index soared by 0.30%. Traders expect a panel’s meeting later in the day. They will likely approve the coronavirus vaccine, which Pfizer and BioNTech developed.

How did Japanese and Korean stocks fare?

Japan’s Nikkei 225 tumbled down by 0.87% on Monday. South Korea’s KOSPI also lowered by 0.95%. At the same time, the ASX 200 plummeted down by 0.81% in Australia.

On Friday, the United States released some disappointing data, causing some futures in New York to plunge by approximately 2.3% on the same day. It seems core retail sales fell by 1.4% month-on-month in December, which surpassed the 1.3% contraction recorded in November. On the other hand, the Producer Price Index (PPI) increased by 0.3% month-on-month in December.

ANZ analysts stated that the data brought into question the durability of the recent move higher in bond yields.