SINGAPORE – Shares in Asia-Pacific traded mixed on Monday morning, with investors following Alibaba shares in Hong Kong, following another evolution between the Ant Group subsidiary and billionaire Jack Ma.
In Japan, the Nikkei 225 fell 0.42%, while the Topix index fell 0.3%. Japan’s exports increased by 16.1% in March compared to the previous year, Ministry of Finance data showed on Monday. This was much higher than the 11.6% increase expected by economists in a Reuters poll.
Kospi in South Korea also fell 0.11%.
Meanwhile, shares in Australia advanced as the S & P / ASX 200 gained 0.13%.
The largest MSCI index of Asia-Pacific equities outside Japan traded 0.11% lower.
Investors will follow Alibaba’s Hong Kong listed shares on Monday. This comes after Ant Group said in a tweet that a recent Reuters report that the company is looking at ways to get Jack Ma out is “untrue and unfounded.”
Reuters reported over the weekend that financial technology giant Ant was “exploring options” for Ma to divest its stake in the firm and “relinquish control,” citing a source familiar with regulator thinking and two people closely linked to company. “
Coins and oil
The US dollar index, which tracks the green dollar against a basket of its colleagues, was at 91,601 after a recent decline of over 91.8.
The Japanese yen traded at 108.68 per dollar, stronger than levels above 109.2 against the green dollar seen last week. The Australian dollar changed hands at $ 0.7714 after rising below $ 0.768 last week.
Oil prices fell in the morning trading hours in Asia, with international references to Brent crude futures falling 0.51% to $ 66.43 a barrel. US crude futures also fell 0.51% to $ 62.81 a barrel.