Stock market today: Asian stocks decline as China stimulus plan disappoints markets
Asian stocks fell on Monday, led by a more than 2% drop in Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index, as China’s stimulus package disappointed investor expectations
HONG KONG — Asian stocks fell on Monday, led by a more than 2% drop in Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index, as China's stimulus package disappointed investor expectations.
China on Friday approved a 6 trillion yuan ($839 billion) plan during a national legislature meeting. The long-anticipated stimulus is designed to help local governments refinance their mountains of debt in the latest push to rev up growth in the world’s second-largest economy.
“It’s not exactly the growth rocket many had hoped for. While it’s a substantial number, the stimulus is less about jump-starting economic growth and more about plugging holes in a struggling local government system,” Stephen Innes of SPI Asset Management said in a commentary.
Meanwhile, China’s inflation rate in October rose 0.3% year-on-year, according to the National Bureau of Statistics on Saturday, marking a slowdown from September’s 0.4% increase and dropping to its lowest level in four months.
The Hang Seng fell 2.2% to 20,270.77, and the Shanghai Composite lost 0.4% to 3,437.90.
Japan’s benchmark Nikkei 225 slipped 0.4% in morning trading to 39,347.79. Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 dipped 0.5% to 8,252.70. South Korea’s Kospi fell 1% to 2,534.82.
U.S. futures were higher while oil prices declined.
On Friday, the S&P 500 rose 0.4% to 5,995.54, its biggest weekly gain since early November 2023 and briefly crossed above the 6,000 level for the first time. The Dow Jones Industrial Average climbed 0.6% to 43,988.99, while the Nasdaq composite added 0.1% to 19,286.78.
In the bond market, longer-term Treasury yields eased.
A preliminary
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