Asia-Pacific Markets Rise as Investors Eye China Data

Asia-Pacific-Markets-Rise-as-Investors-Eye-China-Data

Asia-Pacific markets traded mostly higher on Monday as investors analyzed China’s manufacturing and industrial profit data. While Japan’s Nikkei 225 dropped, other major regional indexes saw gains.

Japan’s Market Declines on AI Competition

The Nikkei 225 fell 0.92% to close at 39,565.8, while the Topix index gained 0.26% to end at 2,758.07. Shares of Japan’s semiconductor firms declined following concerns that China’s AI startup DeepSeek could threaten U.S. AI dominance.

Chip-related stocks saw notable declines:

• Advantest: down 8.6%
• Tokyo Electron: down 4.9%
• Renesas Electronics: down 1.24%
• SoftBank Group: down 8.3% (owns chip designer Arm)

China’s Economic Data Sends Mixed Signals

Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index rose 0.51% in late trading, while the mainland CSI 300 dropped 0.41% to 3,817.08.

China’s economic reports showed conflicting trends:

• Factory activity: The official purchasing managers’ index for January came in at 49.1, below Reuters’ estimate of 50.1, indicating contraction.
• Industrial profits: Up 11% in December from a year earlier but posted a third consecutive annual decline.

China Moves to Boost Stock Market

To support struggling equities, China’s Securities Regulatory Commission (CSRC) introduced new initiatives on Sunday to promote index investment products. The agency aims to expand equity and bond ETFs and other measures to stabilize financial markets.

The move follows last Thursday’s CSRC effort to encourage large state-owned mutual funds and insurers to buy more shares.

Global Markets React to U.S. Stock Movements

On Friday, U.S. markets ended a four-day winning streak as investors took profits following a strong week centered on Donald Trump’s return to the White House.

Major U.S. indexes closed lower:

• S&P 500: down 0.3% to 6,101.24
• Nasdaq Composite: down 0.5% to 19,954.30
• Dow Jones: down 140.82 points (-0.3%) to 44,424.25

Investor Sentiment and Trump’s Impact

Excitement over Trump’s pro-business policies fueled a bullish sentiment in U.S. markets last week. All three major indexes posted their second consecutive positive week, signaling that the bull market has resumed following December’s pullback.

Conclusion

Asia-Pacific markets reflected mixed trends on Monday as investors weighed China’s economic data and AI competition concerns. Meanwhile, optimism surrounding the U.S. market rally continues to shape global investment sentiment.