SMIC shares plunge in Hong Kong after threat of U.S. export restrictions
Asian markets were mixed Monday, following a sharp selloff on Wall Street last week.
Japan’s Nikkei 225 NIK, 0.55% dipped 0.5% while Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index HSI, 0.13% fell 0.4%. The Shanghai Composite SHCOMP, 0.12% declined 1.9% while the smaller-cap Shenzhen Composite 399106, -0.29% dropped 2.2%.
South Korea’s Kospi 180721, 0.67% rose 0.7%, while benchmark indexes in Taiwan Y9999, 0.51% , Singapore STI, 0.35% and Indonesia JAKIDX, +0.16% were mixed. Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 XJO, 0.69% rose 0.3%.
Data showed China’s August exports were stronger than expected from the prior year, after another strong increase in July.
Shares of Chinese chip maker Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corp. 981, 3.07% tumbled in Hong Kong trading after a Wall Street Journal report that the Trump administration is considering placing export restrictions against it, as it has with fellow chip maker Huawei Technologies.
SoftBank Group 9984, -1.11% shares dropped over 7% on Monday after The Wall Street Journal reported the Japanese investment group bought $4 billion worth of options tied to around $50 billion worth of individual tech stocks.
U.S. markets are closed Monday for the Labor Day holiday. Last week, the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite COMP, -1.26% saw a 3.3% weekly decline, its largest since March, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average DJIA, -0.56% fell 1.8% and the S&P 500 SPX, -0.81% lost 2.3%.
“We view the latest selloff as a bout of profit-taking after a strong run,” said Mark Haefele, chief investment officer at UBS Global Wealth Management, in a note Friday.
“Stocks have had a nervy start to trading Monday after the massive two-day slide for global equities since June left investors on edge,” Stephen Innes, chief global markets strategist at AxiCorp, wrote in a note Monday. “In the short-term, more so with U.S. markets closed today, it should remain an extremely choppy affair, with bounces likely being sold by design.”