Shanghai Bund skyline panorama
Yangna | E+ | Getty Images
Asia-Pacific markets traded mixed on Monday as investors awaited trade data from China due later in the day.
Economists polled by Reuters expect China’s exports in November to rise 3.8% from a year earlier, reversing the 1.1% contraction in October. Imports are expected to increase 3% in the same period, up from 1% the month before.
Japan’s benchmark Nikkei 225 slid 0.14%, while the Topix added 0.25%. South Korea’s Kospi was flat, and the small-cap Kosdaq traded 0.45% higher.
Revisions released by Tokyo on Monday show Japan’s economy shrank more sharply between July and September than first estimated. Official data showed that third-quarter GDP fell at an annualized rate of 2.3%, worse than economists’ median forecast of a 2.0% drop and a preliminary reading of a 1.8% decline.
Australia’s ASX/S&P 200 slid 0.17%. Investors will be keeping an eye on the upcoming Reserve Bank of Australia decision as it kicks off its two-day meeting.
According to a Reuters poll of economists, the Reserve Bank of Australia is expected to maintain its cash rate at 3.60% on Tuesday and keep it there through 2026.
Futures for Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index pointed to a higher open, trading at 26,121, against the index’s previous close of 26,085.08.
Last Friday in the U.S, the three major averages closed higher as the market sorted through a fresh slate of U.S. economic releases. The S&P 500 edged higher to secure its fourth straight winning day, closing 0.19% higher at 6,870.40 and putting the index about 0.7% off its intraday record.
The Nasdaq Composite increased 0.31% to settle at 23,578.13, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average climbed 104.05 points, or 0.22%, to end the day at 47,954.99.
— CNBC’s Sean Conlon and Pia Singh contributed to this report.