Asian Shares Slip Ahead Of Key Inflation Readings

(RTTNews) - Asian stocks moved in a narrow range before closing mostly lower on Monday as Middle East worries persisted, the earnings season loomed, and investors looked ahead to the release of inflation data this week from the U.S., China and Japan for directional cues.

Gold ticked lower and the dollar extended gains as expectations of an early rate cut in the U.S. faded.

Oil prices fell more than 1 percent in Asian trade after a substantial cut in official oil pricing to Asia by OPEC+ leader Saudi Arabia.

Japanese markets were shut for the Coming-of-Age Day holiday.

Chinese and Hong Kong stocks fell sharply to underperform regional peers as China announced sanctions against five American defense-related companies in response to U.S. arms sales to Taiwan and U.S. sanctions on Chinese companies and individuals. China's Shanghai Composite index dropped 1.42 percent to 2,887.54 while Hong Kong's Hang Seng index tumbled 1.88 percent to 16,224.45, dragged down by tech stocks.

Seoul stocks ended lower for the fourth day running ahead of the release of U.S. consumer price inflation and producer price inflation data this week. The Bank of Korea's rate decision on Thursday was also on investors' radar. The Kospi average dipped 0.40 percent to 2,567.82.

Australian stocks ended at a three-week low ahead of domestic retail sales and inflation data due this week. The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 slid half a percent to 7,451.50 while the broader All Ordinaries index closed 0.54 percent lower at 7,676.80.

Miners led losses as iron ore prices slumped. Technology stocks also weakened, tracking losses in their global peers.

Core Lithium shares slumped 17.4 percent. The miner halted operations and flagged an impairment charge related to its Finiss operations in Northern Territory for the half-year ended December 2023.

Across the Tasman, New Zealand's benchmark S&P/NZX 50 index eased 0.11 percent to close at 11,735.42.

U.S. stocks fluctuated before finishing slightly higher on Friday but ended lower for the first time in ten weeks amid much uncertainty about the timing and pace of interest rate cuts.

Data showed the U.S. economy added many more jobs than anticipated in December and unemployment rate held steady at 3.7 percent in another sign of continued labor market strength.

On the flip side, there were notable downward revisions to job growth in October and November and the services sector growth slowed more than expected in December.

The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite ended marginally higher to snap a five-session losing streak. The Dow edged up 0.1 percent while the S&P 500 added 0.2 percent after four consecutive days of losses.