Stocks in Asia fell on Monday, as reigniting tensions between the U.S. and China weighed on investor sentiment, with major regional markets closed for holidays.
The Hang Seng index in Hong Kong returned from a long weekend with a long slide of 1,019.79, or 4.2%, to 23,613.80, with shares of Chinese tech juggernaut Tencent falling 4.1%.
Markets in Tokyo and Shanghai were shuttered for holiday. The Japanese yen traded at 106.75 per U.S. dollar after strengthening from levels above 107 last week.
Australian markets had some jump in them, as shares of major bank Westpac gained 2.8% despite the firm earlier announcing a profit plunge in its first half earnings and a deferral in its dividend payment.
The Australian dollar changed hands at $0.6406 after declining from levels above $0.648 last week.
CHINA
The moves regionally came as tensions rise between Washington and Beijing. U.S. President Donald Trump said Sunday that he believed that a "mistake" in China was the cause of the spreading coronavirus pandemic, though he did not present any evidence for the claim.
The nation’s top spy agency said Thursday that it had determined that the virus was not man-made but was still investigating whether it was caused by "an accident at a laboratory in Wuhan."
The Associated Press additionally reported that U.S. intelligence documents accused China of concealing the severity of the coronavirus outbreak to hoard medical supplies.
Trump said on Sunday that he was confident that there will be a coronavirus vaccine by the end of the year.
In other markets
In Korea, the Kospi index returned from holiday to dock 52.19 points, or 2.7%, to 1,895.37.
In Singapore, the Straits Times Index gave back 60.54 points, or 2.3%, to 2,563.69.
In Taiwan, the Taiex index tumbled 271.66 points, or 2.5%, to 10,270.48.
In New Zealand, the NZX 50 dipped 83.06 points, or 0.8%, to 10,449.01.
In Australia, the ASX 200 wilted 276.46 points, or 5%, to 5,245.89.
