Asia-Pacific markets traded mixed on Monday as investors weighed ongoing geopolitical concerns.
On Sunday, Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney said his country has no intention of seeking a free trade deal with China, after US President Donald Trump threatened to impose 100% tariffs on Ottawa if it signs a trade deal with China.
“Canada honors our commitments, our commitments. We have commitments under CUSMA (the Canada-United States-Mexico Agreement) that we will not seek free trade agreements with non-market economies without prior notice. We have no intention of doing so with China or other non-market economies,” Carney said.
Japan’s Nikkei 225 fell 1.52%, while the Topix fell 1.76%. South Korea’s Kospi added 0.64%, while the small-cap Kosdaq rose 2.28%.
The Japanese yen last gained 0.45 percent to trade around 155.01 against the dollar.
Investors will continue to closely monitor Japanese stocks and the yen after Japan’s prime minister signaled that he will crack down on speculative market activity due to the yen’s sharp rise on Friday, warning that authorities are ready to act if volatility picks up.
“The yen recovered on rising intervention risk, with spillovers to the broad USD. While the FOMC’s cautiously hawkish stance, coupled with resilient data, should provide some support, potential yen intervention may worsen the weak dollar flow picture,” Barclays economists wrote in a note on Sunday.
Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index fell 0.26%, while the mainland’s CSI 300 added 0.27%.
Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 added 0.13%.
