Asia-Pacific stocks mixed as oil prices drop more than 3%; data shows China’s industrial profits rose

SINGAPORE — Shares in Asia-Pacific traded mixed on Monday morning, as oil prices declined more than 3%.

In Japan, the Nikkei 225 slipped 0.42% while the Topix index shed 0.1%. South Korea’s Kospi declined 0.7%.

In Australia, the S&P/ASX 200 climbed 0.19% in morning trade.

MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific outside Japan traded 0.11% lower.

Oil prices declined in the morning of Asia trading hours, with international benchmark Brent crude futures down 3.41% to $116.54 per barrel. U.S. crude futures slipped 3.4% to $110.03 per barrel.

Data released over the weekend showed Chinese industrial profits grew in the first two months of the year. Profits at China’s industrial firms rose 5.0% for the January to February period as compared with a year earlier, according to data released Sunday.

Investors have been watching for clues on policy easing from Chinese authorities amid concerns over the outlook for the economic powerhouse as it grapples with issues such as its worst Covid outbreak since the initial height of the pandemic in early 2020.

Markets will monitor shares of Meituan and other Chinese tech stocks in Hong Kong. Meituan on Friday posted better-than-expected revenue for the last three months of 2021. The company’s revenue for the fourth quarter came in at 49.52 billion yuan ($7.78 billion), above mean analyst expectations for a 49.2 billion yuan print, according to data from Refinitiv Eikon.

The U.S. dollar index, which tracks the greenback against a basket of its peers, was at 98.864 following a recent climb from below 98.7.

The Japanese yen traded at 112.22 per dollar, weaker than levels below 120 seen against the greenback last week. The Australian dollar was at $0.7519, having risen from below $0.74 last week.