The Tokyo Stock Exchange ended Monday down and that of Hong Kong fell more than 3% at the end of the session, investors remaining stressed by the prospect of more aggressive monetary tightening from the Fed in the United States.
The Nikkei star index fell 0.61% to 26,821.52 points and the expanded Topix index dropped 0.38% to 1,889.64 points.
In Hong Kong, the Hang Seng index was even more depressed, falling more than 3.3% at 0700 GMT.
Consumer prices (CPI) in China accelerated sharply in March (+1.5% year on year), according to data published on Monday, a trend linked to the global increase in agricultural prices but also to the health crisis in China, where drastic confinements have been put back in place.
The CPI index in the United States, expected on Tuesday, will be closely scrutinized as the world’s largest economy faces record inflation for 40 years and the American Federal Reserve (Fed) multiplies the signs of more aggressive monetary tightening in the coming months to fix it.
This has the effect of regularly frightening the equity markets, and especially their technology stocks, allergic to the prospect of higher interest rates.
On the side of values
SONY AND FAST RETAILING HAVE FALLED: in Tokyo, the title of the technology giant Sony dropped 3.93% to 11,715 yen and that of the ready-to-wear group Fast Retailing (Uniqlo), weakened by the economic impact of the strategy ” zero Covid” in China, its second market following Japan, lost 2.72% to 58,530 yen.
On the side of oil and currencies
Oil prices fell sharply on Monday in Asia, the worsening health crisis in China heightening fears regarding the country’s economic slowdown and its demand for black gold.
Around 06:50 GMT the price of a barrel of American WTI lost 2.14% to 96.16 dollars and that of a barrel of Brent from the North Sea fell by 1.91% to 100.82 dollars.
In the currency market, the yen weakened sharply once morest the dollar, at 125.26 yen to the dollar around 07:20 GMT once morest 124.34 yen on Friday at 21:00 GMT, once morest the backdrop of rising yields on US Treasury bonds.
The euro, which benefited in particular from the results of the first round of the French presidential election in line with expectations on Sunday, with Emmanuel Macron and Marine Le Pen qualified for the second round, climbed to 136.39 yen once morest 135.24 yen at the end of last week. .
The European currency also appreciated once morest the dollar, at 1.0888 dollars for one euro once morest 1.0877 dollars on Friday.
etb / abx
