Asia-Pacific markets were largely flat on Monday as investors weighed data on Chinese manufacturing and industrial profits.
Japan’s Nikkei 225 slipped 0.68%, while the Topix added 0.39%. Shares of Japanese chip-related companies fell as Chinese AI startup DeepSeek’s free, open-source, big-language model threatens U.S. AI dominance. Advantest fell 8.5%, while Tokyo Electron fell 4.72%. Renesas Electronics fell 1.33%.
Hong Kong’s Hang Seng rose 0.88%, while the mainland’s CSI 300 was unchanged.
Growth in factory activity in China unexpectedly eased in January, with the official Purchasing Managers’ Index for January at 49.1 versus Reuters estimates of 50.1, SEEbiz reports. In December, China’s industrial profits jumped 11% compared to a year earlier.
Australia, Taiwan and South Korea markets are closed for holidays.
China unveiled new initiatives on Sunday to boost the growth of index investment products in its latest attempt to prop up its faltering stock market. The China Securities Regulatory Commission aims to actively support the growth of stock and bond ETFs, among other measures.
The move follows the CSRC’s move last Thursday to encourage large sovereign wealth funds and insurers to buy more shares.
Hong Kong is also expected to release trade data for December.
