Investing.com-- Most Asian stocks fell on Monday, tracking steep declines on Wall Street amid persistent concerns over a cooling U.S. economy and increased trade tariffs under President Donald Trump.
A tech-fueled rally in Hong Kong paused, with investors turning averse towards the broader tech sector before hotly anticipated earnings from market darling NVIDIA Corporation (NASDAQ: NVDA ) this week.
Weakness in Asian markets came largely tracking steep losses on Wall Street on Friday, where a mix of soft economic data and persistent tariff tensions battered markets. Wall Street futures advanced in Asian trade on Monday, signaling some signs of a recovery.
A market holiday in Japan kept regional trading volumes dull. But Nikkei 225 Futures rose 0.4%.
Tech-heavy Asian bourses led declines on Monday, with South Korea’s KOSPI down 0.6%.
Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index was flat on some gains in locally listed Chinese stocks. But tech shares- which drove a stellar rally in the Hang Seng over the past month- mostly retreated.
Alibaba Group Holding Ltd (HK: 9988 ) (NYSE: BABA ) was an exception, curbing a bulk of its initial losses after the ecommerce giant said it will invest about 380 million yuan ($52 billion) in AI over the next three years.
Regional tech shares largely tracked Friday declines in their U.S. peers, as investors dumped AI-linked shares ahead of key earnings from Nvidia this week. Nvidia had fallen more than 4%.
The company’s earnings- which are due on Wednesday- will be closely watched to see whether the AI trade remained feasible, especially after the release of China’s DeepSeek in January sparked doubts over AI investment.
Major Nvidia supplier SK Hynix Inc (KS: 000660 ) slid 3.6%, while TSMC (TW: 2330 ) (NYSE: TSM )- by far Nvidia’s biggest Asian supplier- shed 1.8%.
Taiwan media reported that Nvidia had secured over 70% of TSMC's advanced chip packaging capacity for 2025, amid strong AI-fueled demand.
Australia’s ASX 200 index was flat after falling for the five past sessions. The index was buoyed by bargain buying into major bank stocks, which wiped out about $40 billion in value over the past eight sessions.
Sectors beyond banks were a mixed bag, with some major individual movers. Software firm Wisetech Global Ltd (ASX: WTC ) slid 23% after most of its board resigned over differences with founder and former CEO Richard White.
Australian shares of Block Inc (ASX: XYZ ) (NYSE: XYZ ) slid more than 10% after it clocked weaker-than-expected earnings.
Weakness in commodity prices pulled majors BHP Group Ltd (ASX: BHP ) and Rio Tinto Ltd (ASX: RIO ) lower.
The ASX 200 surged to record highs earlier in February, boosted chiefly by an interest rate cut by the Reserve Bank. But the central bank warned that further easing was contingent on a drop in inflation, which has remained sticky.
Broader Asian markets moved in a flat-to-low range. Japan’s TOPIX rose 0.1%, while Singapore’s Straits Times added 0.5%.
China’s Shanghai Shenzhen CSI 300 and Shanghai Composite indexes fell slightly after clocking strong gains over the past month on increased optimism over the country’s AI capabilities.
Futures for India’s Nifty 50 index pointed to a positive open, with local stocks set to benefit from some bargain buying after an extended rout since mid-2024.