By Kevin Buckland
TOKYO (Reuters) – Hong Kong shares led falls in Asia on Monday after Beijing’s latest stimulus measures fell short of investor expectations, eclipsing Wall Street’s record highs on Friday and futures point to further strength in the reopening.
Bitcoin climbed to an all-time high as Donald Trump’s victory in the US presidential election, along with pro-crypto candidates voted into Congress, boosted expectations of a light-handed regulatory environment.
The dollar was trading close to last week’s four-month high against major peers as traders prepared for a key reading on U.S. consumer inflation this week, as well as a parade of Federal Reserve speakers including Chairman Jerome Powell on Thursday.
Hong Kong’s Hang Seng fell 2.5% as of 0200 GMT, while a sub-index of property shares in mainland China plunged 3.9%. Chinese blue chips weakened 0.3%.
Japan’s Nikkei fell 0.3%. South Korea’s Kospi lost 0.9% and the Taiwanese benchmark fell 0.7%.
Australia’s stock benchmark fell 0.4%, pressured by commodity stocks, after oil and industrial metals weakened.
On Friday, after Chinese markets closed, the Standing Committee of the National People’s Congress unveiled a 10 trillion yuan ($1.39 trillion) debt package to ease local government financing problems and stabilize weak economic growth.
However, the stimulus measures lacked the direct injection of money into the economy that some investors had hoped for, especially against the backdrop of the threat of massive tariffs under the incoming Trump administration.
“It may be disappointing for those who expected the NPC meeting to approve a major budget package, but the expectation is unrealistic because the policy goal is to achieve the GDP growth target and reduce tail risks, not to to restructure the economy in a meaningful way. way,” Macquarie analysts wrote in a note.
“Chinese policy will also only respond to its own economic conditions, and not to the American election results.”
However, the stimulus disappointment overshadowed what should have been a positive lead from Wall Street, where the S&P 500 rose above 6,000 points for the first time before closing at a record slightly below that level.
S&P 500 futures were 0.2% higher on Monday.
The Republican Party is moving closer to capturing both chambers of Congress, taking the Senate on election night and Edison Research expects it to have 214 seats so far of the 218 seats needed for control of the House of Representatives , compared to 205 for Democrats.
Investors expect Trump’s second term to bring tax cuts that boost stock markets and looser regulations.
