SINGAPORE – Asia-Pacific stocks were mixed trading Monday morning, with investors following Alibaba’s shares in Hong Kong following a new development between affiliate Ant Group and billionaire Jack Ma.
The Nikkei 225 in Japan fell 0.42% during early trading, while the Topix index lost 0.3%. Japanese exports rose 16.1% in March compared to a year earlier, according to figures from the Ministry of Finance on Monday. That was much higher than the 11.6% increase that economists expected in a Reuters survey.
South Korean Kospi also fell 0.11%.
Meanwhile, stocks in Australia advanced as the S & P / ASX 200 gained 0.13%.
MSCI’s widest index of Asia-Pacific stocks outside Japan was down 0.11%.
Investors will be looking at Alibaba’s Hong Kong-listed stocks on Monday. This comes after Ant Group said in a tweet that a recent Reuters report that the company was looking for ways to leave Jack Ma was “untrue and baseless.”
Reuters reported last weekend that financial technology giant Ant is “exploring options” for Ma to divest his stake in the company and “give up control,” citing a source familiar with regulators’ thinking and two people who have close ties with the company. “
Currencies and oil
The US dollar index, which tracks the greenback against a basket of its peers, was at 91,601 after a recent drop from above 91.8.
The Japanese yen traded at 108.68 per dollar, stronger than levels above 109.2 versus last week’s dollar. The Australian dollar changed hands at $ 0.7714 after moving below $ 0.768 last week.
Oil prices fell in the morning of trading hours in Asia, with the international benchmark for Brent crude oil futures falling 0.51% to $ 66.43 a barrel. US crude oil futures also fell 0.51% to $ 62.81 a barrel.