Shares in the Asia-Pacific mostly fell sharply on Monday as negative sentiment continues to weigh in on markets.
The Nikkei 225 in Japan dropped 2.66% to 26,431.55, and the Topix also slipped 2.71% to 1,864.28. South Korea’s Kospi tumbled 3.02% to 2,220.94 and the Kosdaq plunged 5.07% to 692.37.
In Australia, the S&P/ASX 200 declined 1.6% to 6,469.40. MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan was 1.34% lower.
Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index fell 0.21% in the final hour of trade, erasing earlier gains, with the Hang Seng Tech Index bucking the trend and rising by 1.61%. In mainland China, the Shanghai Composite fell 1.2% to 3,051.23 and the Shenzhen Component was down 0.398% to 10,962.56.
The Reserve Bank of India’s monetary policy committee is scheduled to meet later this week, and China is expected to release data on factory activity at the end of the week.
Onewo, a subsidiary of property developer China Vanke, is set to debut on the Hong Kong stock exchange this week as well.
Woodside has the lowest production costs among Australian LNG producers, and is not subject to the “political meddling” that its peers are under, Atlas Funds Management said.
Santos and Origin Energy face pressure to keep gas for local consumption instead of exporting it, Atlas’ Chief Investment Officer Hugh Dive told CNBC’s “Street Signs Asia.”
“There are a lot of moves and political meddling there to conserve gas into the East Coast… gas in Woodside is exported up into East Asia,” he said.
Woodside is located in West Australia whereas peers like Santos and Origin are located on the East Coast of Australia and may be forced to sell their energy locally at a discounted price.
