Asian shares decline as markets keep eyes on China meeting

TOKYO — Asian shares were mixed Monday as investors kept their eyes on the weeklong Communist Party congress in China.

Benchmarks dropped in Tokyo, Sydney and Hong Kong, but they recovered in afternoon trading in Seoul and Shanghai. Mumbai gained. Oil prices rose and U.S. futures rose.

The meeting in China opened Sunday. It is expected that Xi Jinping will be reappointed as the leader for the next five-years, reaffirming both his power and strengthening state control over the economy. Analyst expect no change to the “zero-COVID policy.”

“Fresh updates from China’s Party Congress are being scrutinized, with the emphasis on technological advancement and national security seemingly brought up as high priorities for China’s longer-term direction. Yeap Jun Rong is a market strategist at IG Singapore. He stated that further decoupling from U.S. technology seems like the story.

Japan’s benchmark Nikkei 225 slipped 1.2% in afternoon trading to 26,775.79. Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 dipped 1.4% to 6,664.40. South Korea’s Kospi rebounded to gain 0.3% to 2,219.71. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng lost 0.2% to 16,561. 97, while the Shanghai Composite rose 0.5% to 3,086.38. The Sensex in Mumbai gained 0.5%.

Clifford Bennett, Chief Economist at ACY Securities, noted the U.S. dollar will likely continue to rise as interest rates are pushed higher to counter inflation.

” The outlook is dark. He said that the American economy faces a dark future. “The U.S. Dollar will continue to strengthen, especially against other Western currencies, for the moment.”

In currency trading, the euro cost 97. 37 cents, up from 97. 21 cents.

The U.S. dollar rose to 148. 74 Japanese yen from 148. 63 yen. That’s a nearly 32-year low for the yen against the dollar. The government stated that

Japan’s August industrial production showed moderate improvements. According to data from Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry, industrial production increased by 3.4% over the previous month and 5.8% over the previous year. Despite some cooling in certain parts of the economy, concerns about inflation remain. Wall Street stocks saw a sharp decline last week, wiping out gains from earlier weeks.

A report indicating that consumers in the United States are expecting inflation was another sign that the Federal Reserve may continue to raise interest rates aggressively, even though it increases the risk of a recession.

The S&P 500 dropped 2.4% on Friday. The Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 1.3%, while the Nasdaq composite finished 3.1% lower. Both indexes turned lower after moving higher in early trading.

The Russell 2000 sold 2.7 %

The Fed has already raised its benchmark rate five times this fiscal year. The last three increases were by three-quarters percent. Wall Street expects another three-quarters increase in the benchmark interest rate at its November meeting.

Investors have also been focusing on the latest earnings reports.

In energy trading, benchmark U.S. crude added 66 cents to $86. 27 a barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. U.S. crude oil prices dropped 3.9% on Friday. Brent crude, the international standard, added 78 cents to $92. 41 a barrel.

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Yuri Kageyama is on Twitter https://twitter.com/yurikageyama