Shares declined in Asia after hawkish signals from key officials of the U.S. Federal Reserve fueled a volatile session for the S&P 500.
Japanese and Australian stocks fell. Shares also fell at the open in Hong Kong as trading resumed after a holiday. U.S. stocks were little changed. China is in the midst of a week-long holiday.
Energy and financial stocks sold off Monday, erasing gains for the year in the S&P/Toronto Stock Exchange Composite Index. The tech-heavy Nasdaq 100 defied the negative sentiment, ending the day 0.8% higher, buoyed by firms including Microsoft Corp., Apple Inc., and Nvidia Corp.
Brent crude prices were trading above $90 a barrel, and WTI crude was above the $88 mark. The yield on the 10-year U.S. bond was trading at 4.58%, and Bitcoin was above the $27,000 level.
At 8:05 a.m., the GIFT Nifty, an early indicator of the Nifty 50 Index’s performance in India, was down 32 points, or 0.16%, at 19,581.5.
On Friday, gains in ICICI Bank Ltd. and NTPC Ltd. helped India’s benchmark stock indices close higher. Pharma, metals, and media sectors led the advances that helped Nifty close above the 19,600 level and Sensex above the 65,800 mark.
However, on a weekly basis, the indices capped some losses to end lower for the second week in a row.
Overseas investors remained net sellers of Indian equities for the ninth consecutive session on Friday. Foreign portfolio investors sold Indian equities worth Rs 1,685.7 crore, according to provisional data from the NSE. Domestic institutional investors remained net buyers and mopped up stocks worth Rs 2,751.5 crore.
The Indian rupee strengthened 15 paise to close at Rs 83.04 against the U.S. dollar on Friday.
