Asia-Pacific markets traded mixed on Monday as investors weighed in on AI-led stocks, with a focus on minutes from the Federal Reserve’s June meeting due later this week.
Japan’s benchmark Nikkei 225 fell 0.7%, while the Topix added 0.2%. South Korea’s Kospi lost 0.91%, while the small-cap Kosdaq fell 1%. Chinese markets opened in the green, with Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index up 0.4%, while the CSI 300 added 0.2%. Australia’s benchmark S&P/ASX 200 was unchanged.
The Japanese yen traded at 161.54 to the US dollar after falling to a 40-year low against the US dollar last week. South Korea’s won depreciated by about 0.25% to 1,532.82 per US dollar after the currency opened 24-hour trading.
The Dow Jones rose last week by almost 2%, bringing it close to 53,000, a level it has never reached before, reports SEEbiz. The S&P 500 and Nasdaq Composite also posted sharp gains last week, advancing 1.8% and 2.1%, respectively.
Those gains came even as semiconductors – the driving force behind many of the market’s gains this year – faltered last week and investors trimmed exposure to chipmakers and turned to other sectors. The VanEck Semiconductor ETF (SMH) fell 3.2%, marking its second straight week of losses.
