Hong Kong stocks led gains in the Asia-Pacific on Monday as China’s trade data fell far short of expectations, marking the first annual decline in exports since May 2020. Exports fell by 0.3% and imports also fell by 0.7% — a Reuters poll had forecasted a rise of 4.3% and 0.1% respectively.
In Japan, the Nikkei 225 leaped 327.9 points, or 1.2%, to 27,527.64.
In Hong Kong, the Hang Seng climbed 434.77 points, or 2.7%, to 16,595.51.
Singapore wants to be a Web3 hub, but disapproves of crypto trading at the same time, Coinbase’s co-founder and CEO Brian Armstrong pointed out in a panel session last week.
“Those two things are incompatible in my mind, and I would like to see Singapore embrace retail trading and self-hosted wallets,” Armstrong said, speaking alongside Sopnendu Mohanty, chief fintech officer of the Monetary Authority of Singapore at the Singapore FinTech Festival 2022.
Mohanty, in response, said that retail investors today are “exposed to risks they do not understand they are taking.”
CHINA
In Shanghai, the CSI 300 gained 8.13 points, or 0.2%, to 3,775.30.
China’s exports in U.S. dollar terms fell 0.3% in October from a year earlier, significantly missing expectations for an increase of 4.3% in a
Reuters poll and a steep decline from 5.7% growth in September.
Chinese health officials renewed its stance of sticking by strict measures, which is seen to dampen market sentiment after seeing soaring risk appetite last Friday with speculation of “conditional” plans for a reopening. Apple suppliers in the region are also in focus as the company warned Covid restrictions in China are hurting iPhone production.
In other markets
In Taiwan, the Taiex hiked 197.02 points, or 1.5%, to 13,223.72.
In Korea, the Kospi index muscled higher 23.36 points, or 1%, to 2,371.79.
In Singapore, the Straits Times Index added 11.2 points, or 0.4%, to 3,141.31.
In New Zealand, the NZX 50 jumped 59.59 points, or 0.5%, to 11,290.34.
In Australia, the ASX 200 gained 41.25 points, 0.6%, to 6,993.71.
