SINGAPORE — Shares in Asia were mixed in Monday morning trade as trading in 2022 kicked off, with some major markets in the region closed.
Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index shed earlier gains and fell into negative territory, declining 0.21%.
Trading in the shares and structured products of debt-ridden Chinese developer China Evergrande Group was halted in Hong Kong on Monday, according to an exchange notice. No immediate reason was given for the halt.
Property stocks in Hong Kong declined in Monday trading, with shares of Country Garden falling 2.02% while Sunac plunged 8.32%. The Hang Seng Properties index traded 0.57% lower.
Hong Kong-listed shares of Evergrande-related firms dropped in Monday morning trade. China Evergrande New Energy Vehicle Group fell 1.7% while Evergrande Property Services slipped 3.03%.
South Korea’s Kospi gained 0.34% while the Taiex in Taiwan advanced 0.33%.
Over in Southeast Asia, the Straits Times index climbed 0.31%.
MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan traded 0.05% lower.
Markets in Australia, mainland China and Japan are closed on Monday for a holiday.
Currencies and oil
The Japanese yen traded at 115.24 per dollar, weaker than levels below 114.6 seen against the greenback last week. The Australian dollar was at $0.725, still above levels below $0.722 seen in the previous trading week.
Oil prices were higher in the morning of Asia trading hours, with international benchmark Brent crude futures up 0.36% to $78.06 per barrel. U.S. crude futures gained 0.4% to $75.51 per barrel.
For all the latest World News Click Here
For the latest news and updates, follow us on Google News.
