Asia report: Stocks mixed as oil prices rise again

Stocks closed in a mixed state in Asia on Monday, as investors monitored developments in Ukraine and kept an eye on rising oil prices.

In Japan, traders had the day off for the Vernal Equinox holiday, as the yen weakened 0.03% against the dollar to last trade at JPY 119.20.

On the mainland, the Shanghai Composite eked out gains of 0.08% to 3,252.69, and the smaller, technology-heavy Shenzhen Composite was 0.73% firmer at 2,160.54.

The People’s Bank of China held the one-year loan prime rate at 3.7% in its latest review on Monday, which was largely expected by markets, although some had been hoping for some hints of support from Beijing.

Reports in state-controlled media last week suggested policymakers in China were keen to throw their support behind Chinese stocks - including those with overseas listings, amid fresh fears of regulatory crackdowns from both Washington and Beijing.

“As we look ahead to a new week, the last few days have seen markets start to focus more on events in China and its economy there, and less on events in Ukraine, with volatility in Chinese markets outweighing the price swings been seen in European and US markets,” said CMC Markets chief market analyst Michael Hewson.

“Last week Chinese vice premier Liu He said that authorities would take steps to be more supportive of financial markets and be more market friendly, calling time on a policy that has seen Chinese authorities crack down on certain sectors of its economy.

“The Chinese economy is also being hit hard by surging cases of the Omicron variant, and the resulting lockdowns and restrictions are raising speculation that the People’s Bank of China will have to ease monetary policy in the coming days in order to support the economy.”

Elsewhere, South Korea’s Kospi was down 0.77% at 2,686.05, while the Hang Seng Index in Hong Kong was 0.89% weaker at 21,221.34.

Embattled property giant China Evergrande was once again in focus, with trading of its shares halted in Hong Kong on Monday, alongside its property services and electric vehicle offshoots.

The trading suspensions were due to pending announcements, which the company said contained inside information, although no further detail was immediately available.

Hong Kong-traded shares in Russian aluminium giant Rusal, meanwhile, were down 5.4% after Australia banned the export of alumina and aluminium ores to Russia over the weekend.

Rusal is the world’s second-largest producer of aluminium, having been overtaken by China Hongqiao Group as the largest in 2015.

Seoul’s blue-chip technology stocks were on the back foot as well, with Samsung Electronics down 1.13%, and SK Hynix 1.61% weaker.

Oil prices returned to growth at the end of the Asian day, with Brent crude futures last up 4.09% on ICE at $112.34 per barrel, and West Texas Intermediate rising 3.94% to $108.82.

In Australia, the S&P/ASX 200 was off 0.22% at 7,278.50, while across the Tasman Sea, New Zealand’s S&P/NZX 50 was 0.02% higher at 12,177.75.

Both of the down under dollars were weaker against the greenback, with the Aussie last off 0.44% at AUD 1.3548, and the Kiwi retreating 0.26% to NZD 1.4515.