SINGAPORE – Asia-Pacific shares traded mixed on Monday morning, with investors watching Alibaba’s shares in Hong Kong following a new development between Ant Group affiliate and billionaire Jack Ma.
The Nikkei 225 in Japan fell 0.42% in early business, while the Topix index fell 0.3%. Japan’s exports in March rose 16.1% from a year earlier, according to data from the Ministry of Finance on Monday. This was well above the 11.6% increase expected by economists in a Reuters poll.
Kospi, South Korea, also fell 0.11%.
Meanwhile, equities in Australia advanced as the S & P / ASX 200 gained 0.13%.
MSCI’s broader Asia-Pacific stock index outside of Japan traded 0.11% lower.
Investors will see Alibaba shares listed on Hong Kong on Monday. This comes after Ant Group said in a tweet that a recent Reuters report that the firm was looking for ways to get out of Jack Ma was “false and unfounded.”
Reuters reported over the weekend that financial technology giant Ant is “exploring options” for Ma to divert its stake in the firm and “relinquish control,” citing a source familiar with regulators’ thinking and two people with close relationships with the company. “
Coins and oils
The U.S. dollar index, which tracks the greenback against a basket of its peers, stood at 91,601 after a recent decline above 91.8.
The Japanese yen was trading 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 hitting $ 0.768 last week.
Oil prices fell in the morning of business hours in Asia, with international benchmark Brent crude futures falling 0.51% to $ 66.43 a barrel. US crude oil futures also fell 0.51% to $ 62.81 a barrel.