Asian shares mostly gain, but Hang Seng drops more than 2% as Alibaba tumbles after report of headquarters change

Attention is turning to Wednesday’s decision by the Federal Reserve on interest rates. A report on Friday showed US inflation is continuing to cool, raising hopes for a smaller and less painful rally than last year’s sharp rise. The Fed’s preferred measure, which excludes food and energy costs, was 4.4 percent higher in December from a year earlier. This is down from 4.7% inflation in November.

Reports that tourism activity during the Lunar New Year holiday last week had almost returned to normal raised expectations that China’s economy could regain momentum faster than anticipated after easing restrictions pandemic at the end of last year.

In the first trading session after the week-long holiday, the Shanghai Composite
CN:SHCOMP

up 0.1% to 3,269.32. However, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng
HK:HSI

lost 2.8% due to a sharp sell-off in technology stocks. e-commerce giant Alibaba
TORTOISE

HK:9988

fell 7.1% after it was reported that it was building a facility in Singapore that some speculate could become its global headquarters.

Hong Kong’s South China Morning Post reports that the company has denied planning such a change, saying the new Singapore campus will be home to regional operations with partners like Lazada. Alibaba is headquartered in the eastern Chinese city of Hangzhou.

Taiwan’s benchmark raised thanks to TSMC’s rise
TW:2330,

largest computer chip maker in the world, up 8%.

Tokyo’s Nikkei 225 Index
JP:NIK

up 0.1% to 27,433.40. Kospi of Korea
KR:180721

lost 1.3% to 2,450.65 and S&P/ASX 200
AU:XJO

in Sydney fell 0.2% to 7,481.70. India’s Sensex
IN 1

unchanged and SET of Bangkok
TH:SET

less than 0.1% lower.

Shares of several companies in the Adani Group have recovered some of the lost ground following recent large losses after US short-seller Hindenburg Research released a report alleging major problems in the group. India’s second largest conglomerate, holding energy, data transmission, construction and other major sectors. career.
Its flagship, Adani Enterprises
IN:512599,

up 5.4% and Adani Ports & Special Economic Zone Ltd.
IN:532921

2.1% more. But shares of other Adani-listed companies fell between 5% and 20%.

Adani Group said it was considering legal action against Hindenburg following allegations of stock market manipulation and accounting fraud.

Read: Adani has mixed feelings after a 413-page response to Hindenburg

On Friday, S&P 500
SPX

up 0.2% to 4,070.56. It rebounded throughout January on confidence that growing inflation was easing, which will hopefully ease pressure on the economy and markets.

Dow
DJIA

inched 0.1% higher, to 33,978.08 and Nasdaq
CALCULATOR

rose 0.9% to 11,621.71.

So far, the job market has remained remarkably resilient despite the overall slowing economy. Almost all the announcements of high-level layoffs are in the tech industry, which is racing to expand after the pandemic sent demand for the technology skyrocket.

The mixed earnings results have fueled some major swings in the market.

Reports on Friday also showed that American income growth slowed in December, while consumer spending fell slightly more than expected.

Economists said Friday’s data is likely to keep the Fed on track to raise its benchmark interest rate by 0.25 percentage points on Wednesday, a step down from a 0.50 point increase in October. previous and four consecutive 0.75 points increase before.

Yield on 10-year Treasury note
BX:TMUBMUSD10Y,

set interest rates on mortgages and other key loans, holding steady at 3.50% on Monday. The two-year yield, which relies more on expectations for Fed actions, was held at 4.19%.

In other trading on Monday, US benchmark crude oil prices
CL

lost 63 cents to $79.20 a barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. It lost $1.33 to $79.68 a barrel on Friday.

Brent crude oil
BRN00,

international pricing standards, fell 40 cents to $86.00 a barrel.

Dollar
DXY

decreased to 129.54 Japanese yen from 129.80 yen. Euro
EURUSD

increased to $1.0866 from $1.0865.