Asian Shares Mixed Amid Rate-hike Worries

(RTTNews) - Asian stocks ended mixed on Monday as investors awaited a slew of U.S. data and Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell's keynote address at the Kansas City Fed's two-day annual economic symposium this week for fresh clues on the economic and rate outlook.

The dollar held its ground following last week's surge while oil prices tumbled nearly 2 percent in Asian trade, ending three days of gains.

China's Shanghai Composite index rose 0.61 percent to 3,277.79 as the country's central bank cut its key lending rates again in an attempt to boost an economy battered by COVID-19 lockdowns and property debt problems.

Hong Kong's Hang Seng index dropped 0.59 percent to 19,656.98 after choppy trading. Japanese shares ended lower to extend losses from the previous two sessions.

The Nikkei average shed 0.47 percent to close at 28,794.50, while the broader Topix index finished marginally lower at 1,992.59. Tech stocks led losses, with Advantest and Tokyo Electron falling 1-2 percent.

Seoul stocks fell for a fourth straight session on concerns over the U.S. Federal Reserve's aggressive monetary tightening and its impact on economic growth. The Kospi average fell 1.21 percent to 2,462.50.

Tech and bio shares paced the declines, with SK Hynix, Samsung Electronics, Samsung Biologics and POSCO losing 1-2 percent.

Australian markets fell, dragged down by miners and banks. The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 dropped 0.95 percent to 7,046.90 while the broader All Ordinaries index ended 0.97 percent lower at 7,287.20.

The big four banks gave up 1-2 percent while gold miner Newcrest lost 4.4 percent. Across the Tasman, New Zealand's benchmark S&P/NZX 50 index climbed 0.68 percent to 11,763.95 after Reserve Bank of New Zealand Deputy Governor Christian Hawkesby said that policymakers want rates to be "comfortably above neutral" to help lower core inflation.

U.S. stocks ended lower on Friday amid rising recession risks and uncertainty over the Fed's rate-hiking path.

The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite tumbled 2 percent and the S&P 500 gave up 1.3 percent to snap four-week winning streaks while the Dow closed 0.9 percent lower.