Asian Shares Slide As Focus Shifts To Tariffs And Fed Meeting

(RTTNews) - Asian stocks fell broadly on Monday as investors reacted to weak Chinese data and awaited interest-rate decisions from the U.S. Federal Reserve and the European Central Banks this week for directional cues.

Gold retreated and the dollar gained following U.S. President Donald Trump's brief imposition of tariffs on Colombia. Oil traded lower as Trump reiterated calls for OPEC to cut prices.

China's Shanghai Composite finished marginally lower at 3,250.60 after new data showed Chinese manufacturing activity unexpectedly shrank in January and non-manufacturing activity growth slowed sharply - raising concerns about Q1 2025 growth and the effectiveness of stimulus measures.

Also, profits at China's industrial firms fell for a third straight year in 2024, official data showed on Monday, highlighting the need for increased economic support.

Hong Kong's Hang Seng index rose by 0.53 percent to 20,172.10, with Chinese tech companies such as Tencent and Alibaba leading the surge.

Japanese markets fell sharply as a slump in tech stocks overshadowed gains in the financial sector. The Nikkei average dipped 0.92 percent to 39,565.80 while the broader Topix index settled 0.26 percent higher at 2,758.07.

Technology stocks such as Tokyo Electron, SoftBank Group, Advantest and Fujikura plunged 5-11 percent amid DeepSeek's emergence as a disruptive force in the AI landscape.

Chinese firm DeepSeek's artificial intelligence chatbot has soared to the top of the Apple Store's download charts, casting doubt on Silicon Valley's hefty AI capex spending and the sustainability of the US technical edge in artificial intelligence.

Lender Mitsubishi UFJ Financial gained 0.7 percent while Sumitomo Mitsui Financial and Mizuho Financial both added 1.6 percent on expectations that higher interest rates will produce stronger domestic profits.

Seoul markets were closed for the Lunar New Year holiday. The Australian market was closed for Australia Day. New Zealand's benchmark S&P/NZX-50 index slipped 0.19 percent to 12,999.72.

U.S. stocks ended lower on Friday but notched back-to-back weekly gains on optimism over Trump's pro-business policies and his calls for lower interest rates and oil prices.

In economic releases, U.S. consumer sentiment declined in January for the first time in six months while existing home sales rose to a 10-month high in December, separate reports revealed.

The S&P 500 ended 0.3 percent lower after hitting a new record earlier in the session. The Dow also dipped 0.3 percent while the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite shed half a percent.