INSUBCONTINENT EXCLUSIVE:
SYDNEY: Asian shares turned down on Monday as China trade data started trickling in and as investors looked to key corporate earnings later
in week to take pulse of a cooling global economy.
Partial data on trade from China showed dollar-denominated exports growth was highest
Markets are still awaiting numbers for December due shortly.
MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan stumbled 0.7 per
cent after climbing to highest since early December on Friday, with Chinese and Hong Kong shares biggest losers.
Liquidity was generally
expected to be light during Asian hours as Japan was on public holiday.
Chinese shares opened in red, with blue-chip index down 0.3 per cent
and Shanghai's SSE Composite off 0.2 per cent
Hong Kong's Hang Seng index dropped 1.2 per cent while Australian shares turned down after starting firm.
E-minis for SP 500 too stumbled,
in an indication of risk aversion.
The trade data from China was main focus, with recent signs Asia's largest economy was losing momentum
and government was planning to lower its 2019 economic growth target.
The Sino-US tariff war has already disrupted trade flows for hundreds
of billions of dollars worth of goods and roiled global markets
While two countries have been in talks for months, few details have been provided of any progress made.
Investors expect volatility to rise
this week, "as some key issues that have been affecting market sentiment approach decision points," said Nick Twidale, analyst at Rakuten
Securities.
"Expect sentiment to continue to dominate market direction with trades focussing closely on news channels for next twist in
various issues that are influencing market."
On earnings front, US banks are in sharp focus with quarterly results from Citigroup due Monday
followed by JPMorgan Chase, Wells Fargo, Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley later in week.
Expectations are dour with profits for US companies
forecast to rise 6.4 per cent, down from an Oct
1 estimate of 10.2 per cent and a big drop from 2018's tax cut-fueled gain of more than 20 per cent.
Investor attention was also on US
government shutdown, now in its 24th day, and with no resolution in sight.
Further clouding outlook, Britain faces a hugely uncertain path
with a vote for a deal for its exit from European Union due in U.K
parliament on Tuesday.
All these factors were at play last week when main US indices ended Friday little changed as investors reset
positions ahead of key risk events.
The Australian dollar, a key gauge of global risk sentiment and a liquid proxy for Chinese yuan, dipped
0.1 per cent from a one-month top of $0.7235 set on Friday.
Elsewhere, euro was subdued as it hit key technical levels following data from
Italy on Friday that showed euro zone's third-largest economy was at risk of recession.
The single currency was last at $1.1475.
The
dollar's index, which measures greenback against a basket of major currencies, edged 0.1 per cent lower to 95.57 after two straight days
of gains.
In commodities, oil prices extended losses from Friday as investors worried about a global slowdown.
US crude was down 19 cents at
$51.4 while Brent eased 17 cents to $60.31.
Gold gained to inch towards a recent seven-month high of $1,298.42 an ounce.
