Asian shares mixed on US partial shutdown, Wall Street slump

SINGAPORE – Asian stocks were mostly lower with light trading on Monday as a Wall Street slump and a partial U.S. government shutdown stemmed holiday cheer.

KEEPING SCORE: South Korea’s Kospi dropped 0.2 per cent to 2,058.19 while the Shanghai Composite index rose 0.1 per cent to 2,519.71. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng lost 0.7 per cent to 25,572.50. Australia’s S&P ASX 200 added 0.2 per cent to 5,475.90. Stocks fell in Taiwan and Singapore. Markets in Japan, Indonesia and the Philippines were closed.

WALL STREET: The U.S. market ended its worst week in more than seven years on Friday, with major indexes plunging 7 per cent. They’ve given up more than 12 per cent in December. Sentiment was dampened by a range of factors, including expectations for slower U.S. growth and the country’s long-running trade dispute with China. The S&P 500 index slipped 2.1 per cent to 2,416.62 and the Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 1.8 per cent at 22,445.37. The Nasdaq composite tumbled 3 per cent to 6,332.99. The Russell 2000 index of smaller-company stocks lost 2.6 per cent to 1,292.09. All of the major indexes are 16 to 26 per cent lower from their highs this summer and fall.

PARTIAL SHUTDOWN: The U.S. federal government was partially shut down on Saturday after Democrats rejected President Donald Trump’s demands for $5 billion to erect a border wall with Mexico. They are offering to keep funding at $1.3 billion, which will be used for security instead. It is unclear how long the shutdown will last with the upcoming Christmas holidays. Almost every essential government agency remains open, but hundreds of thousands of federal workers will be forced off the job and some services will be shut.

ANALYST’S TAKE: “Holiday thinned trade is to be expected for the markets open this Monday with the risk aversion set to continue,” Jingyi Pan of IG said in a commentary. “There appears to be a whole lot of happenings on the political side of things in the U.S., not cutting any slack for the battered stock market,” she added.

ENERGY: Benchmark U.S. crude added 46 cents to $46.05 a barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. The contract fell 0.6 per cent to settle at $45.59 in New York on Friday. Brent crude, used to price international oils, gained 54 cents to $54.36 a barrel. It lost 1 per cent to $53.82 a barrel in London.

CURRENCIES: The dollar weakened to 111.07 yen from 111.22 yen in late trading Friday. The euro rose to $1.1387 from $1.1372.