Asia-Pacific Stocks Mixed; Hong Kong’s Hang Seng 1.26% Down

On Monday, Asia-Pacific stocks struggled for direction as Hong Kong’s benchmark Hang Seng led the loss among the major indexes.

Accordingly, the Hang Seng index sank 1.26% or 300.30 points to $23,466.39 per share.

This downturn came with the plunge of tech shares as the Hang Seng tech index slumped 2.63% or 0.15 points to $5.74 per share. 

Correspondingly, e-commerce giant Alibaba sank 5.36% or 0.82 points to $14.49 per share, a significant decline in the Asia-Pacific stocks.

This plunge came along with the appointment of its new chief financial officer. In April 2022, its deputy CFO Toby Xu will replace Maggie Wu in the said position. 

At present, the firm also faces headwinds on multiple fronts, including tightened competition, slowed economic recovery, and a prolonged regulatory crackdown.

Similarly, its smaller rival JD.com tumbled 3.30% or 1.36 points to $39.89 per share. 

At the same time, video gaming company Tencent slashed 2.68% or 1.59 points to $57.74 per share. 

Likewise, its competitor Netease narrowed 5.02% or 1.09 points to $20.61 per share.

Consequently, highly indebted China Evergrande Group dropped 12.00% or 0.04 points to $0.25 per share.

The cash-strapped property developer mentioned that it doubted the availability of its funds to meet debt repayments. Additionally, it braces for a coupon payment of $82.50 million today.

Then, a filing last Friday noted that it received a demand to repay about $260.00 million.

The possible collapse of the firm could send shockwaves through the Chinese property sector and to the broader Asia-Pacific stocks.

Moreover, the Hang Seng index added four new stocks, including JD and Netease, increasing the number of stocks to 64 from the current 60 stocks.

Nikkei 225 Fell as Asia-Pacific Stocks

Furthermore, Japan’s Nikkei 225 index shed 0.33% or 87.01 points to $27,942.56 per share. 

Subsequently, the broader TOPIX index decreased 0.39% or 7.64 points to $1,950.22 per share. 

In mainland China, the benchmark Shanghai Composite index improved 0.14% or 5.13 points to $3,612.56 per share. 

Inversely, the Shenzhen Component index dwindled 0.18% or 26.66 points to $14,865.40 per share. 

Elsewhere, South Korea’s KOSPI advanced 0.29% or 8.55 points to $2,976.88 per share. 

In Australia, the benchmark S&P/ASX 200 rose 0.05% or 3.90 points to $7,245.10 per share. 

Overall, the MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific stocks outside Japan plummeted 0.55% or 3.44 points to $619.56 per share.