Pedestrians cross an intersection in the Shibuya district of Tokyo, Japan, on Tuesday, Feb. 6, 2024.
Bloomberg | Bloomberg | Getty Images
Asia-Pacific markets are set to continue Friday’s sell-off as investors look toward key trade data from China and Taiwan this week, as well as central bank decisions from Australia and India.
Last Friday, markets in the region tanked, led by Japan’s Nikkei 225 and Topix falling more than 5% and 6% respectively.
The broader Topix marked its worst day in eight years, while the Nikkei marked its worst day since March 2020.
On Monday, S&P Global will release service sector activity figures for countries around the region, including India and China.
Japan’s Nikkei 225 futures pointed to a weaker open, with the futures contract in Chicago at 34,725 and its counterpart in Osaka at 34,800 compared to the previous close of 35,909.7. At this level, the Nikkei will hit levels not seen since January.
Futures for Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 stood at 7,770, lower than its last close of 7,943.2.
The Reserve Bank of Australia kicks off its two-day monetary policy meeting Monday. Economists polled by Reuters expect the central bank to hold rates steady at 4.35%, but markets will monitor the monetary policy statement for clarity on whether the RBA is still considering a rate hike.
Hong Kong Hang Seng index futures were at 16,901, lower than the HSI’s last close of 16,945.51.
On Friday in the U.S., stocks fell sharply as a much weaker-than-anticipated jobs report for July ignited worries that the economy could be falling into a recession.
The Nasdaq was the first of the three major benchmarks to enter correction territory, down more than 10% from its record high. The S&P 500 and Dow were 5.7% and 3.9% below their all-time highs, respectively.
The S&P 500 dropped 1.84%, while the Nasdaq Composite lost 2.43%. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 610.71 points, or 1.51%.
—CNBC’s Pia Singh and Hakyung Kim contributed to this report.
