Stocks in Asia traded mixed on Monday as the number of coronavirus cases stateside soared again.
In Tokyo, the Nikkei 225 fell 41.52 points, or 0.2%, to 22,437.27. The Japanese yen traded at 106.93 per U.S. dollar after seeing levels above 107.4 in the previous week.
The Hang Seng index in Hong Kong subsided 132.55 points, or 0.5%, to 24,511.34, with shares of Chinese tech giant Alibaba dropping more than 2%.
The Australian dollar changed hands at $0.6861 following its slide from levels above $0.693 last week.
CHINA
In Shanghai, the CSI 300 eked forward 3.34 points, or 0.1%, to 4,102.05.
China kept its benchmark lending rate unchanged on Monday, with the one-year loan prime rate left at 3.85%. The five-year loan prime rate was also kept steady at 4.65%.
An official said Sunday that the Chinese capital of Beijing is capable of screening almost one million people a day for the coronavirus. That development came on the back of a recent cluster of infections that was found in the city.
Meanwhile, investors watched for market reaction to the rising number of coronavirus cases in the U.S., with more than 30,000 new infections reported on Friday and Saturday — the highest daily totals since May 1 — according to data compiled by Johns Hopkins University.
In other markets
In Korea, the Kospi let go of 14.59 points, or 0.7%, to 2,126.73
In Taiwan, the Taiex index gained 23.07 points, or 0.2%, to 11,572.93
In Singapore, the Straits Times Index lost 5.14 points, or 0.2%, to 2,629.69.
In New Zealand, the NZX 50 doffed 96.28 points, or 0.9%, to 11,158.46
In Australia, the ASX 200 nicked forward 1.97 points to 5,944.54.
