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Asia Markets: SMIC slumps, SoftBank drops in mixed Asia markets

Asian markets were mixed in early trading Monday, following a sharp selloff on Wall Street last week. Read More...

Asian markets were mixed Monday, following a sharp selloff on Wall Street last week.

Japan’s Nikkei 225 NIK, -0.49% dipped 0.5% while Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index HSI, -0.42% fell 0.4%. The Shanghai Composite SHCOMP, -1.87% declined 1.9% while the smaller-cap Shenzhen Composite 399106, -2.21% dropped 2.2%.

South Korea’s Kospi 180721, +0.67% rose 0.7%, while benchmark indexes in Taiwan Y9999, -0.28% , Singapore STI, +0.06% and Indonesia JAKIDX, -0.18% were mixed. Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 XJO, +0.32% rose 0.3%.

Data showed China’s August exports were stronger than expected from the prior year, after another strong increase in July.

Shares of Chinese chip maker Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corp. 981, -22.87% tumbled in Hong Kong trading after a Wall Street Journal report that the Trump administration is considering placing export restrictions against it, as it has with fellow chip maker Huawei Technologies.

SoftBank Group 9984, -7.15% shares dropped over 7% on Monday after The Wall Street Journal reported the Japanese investment group bought $4 billion worth of options tied to around $50 billion worth of individual tech stocks.

U.S. markets are closed Monday for the Labor Day holiday. Last week, the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite COMP, -1.26% saw a 3.3% weekly decline, its largest since March, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average DJIA, -0.56% fell 1.8% and the S&P 500 SPX, -0.81% lost 2.3%.

“We view the latest selloff as a bout of profit-taking after a strong run,” said Mark Haefele, chief investment officer at UBS Global Wealth Management, in a note Friday.

“Stocks have had a nervy start to trading Monday after the massive two-day slide for global equities since June left investors on edge,” Stephen Innes, chief global markets strategist at AxiCorp, wrote in a note Monday. “In the short-term, more so with U.S. markets closed today, it should remain an extremely choppy affair, with bounces likely being sold by design.”

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