NEW DELHI (dpa-AFX) - Asian stocks were mostly lower on Monday as Brexit trade talks reached stalemate and U.S.-China tensions returned to the fore.
The global Covid-19 count surpassed 67 million, denting hopes of a faster economic recovery from the pandemic.
China's Shanghai Composite index was down 0.4 percent and Hong Kong's Hang Seng index fell as much as 1.8 percent after Reuters reported in an exclusive that the United States is preparing to impose sanctions on at least a dozen Chinese officials over their alleged role in Beijing's disqualification of elected opposition legislators in Hong Kong.
Japan's Nikkei index slipped 0.4 percent and the yen ticked higher as Friday's U.S. jobs data disappointed and the U.S. notched a record number of coronavirus cases in 24 hours for the third day running. California entered another wide-sweeping lockdown, sparking concerns over growth.
Australia's benchmark S&P/ASX 200 was up 0.4 percent as rising iron ore prices helped push miners higher. Heavyweights BHP and Rio Tinto both rose about 2 percent.
Santos jumped 3 percent after it signed a deal with a Mitsubishi subsidiary to supply LNG to its Barossa project off the coast of the Northern Territory.
New Zealand's NZX-50 index slipped 0.1 percent and South Korea's Kospi average was down 0.4 percent.
Gold held steady while oil prices slipped after data showed U.S. energy firms last week added oil and natural gas rigs for the 11th time in 12 weeks. The British pound pared an early decline amid concerns about a Brexit deal.
U.S. stocks hit record closing highs on Friday as positive news around coronavirus vaccine rollouts and signs that Congress is moving closer to a stimulus package helped investors shrug off data showing the slowest U.S. jobs growth in six months.
Government data showed non-farm payroll employment rose by 245,000 jobs in November after increasing by a downwardly revised 610,000 jobs in October.
Economists had expected employment to increase by 469,000 jobs compared to the addition of 638,000 jobs originally reported for the previous month.
Despite the weaker than expected job growth, the unemployment rate dipped to 6.7 percent in November from 6.9 percent in October.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.8 percent, the tech-heavy Nasdaq climbed 0.7 percent and the S&P 500 added 0.9 percent.
European stocks gained ground on Friday on optimism over a swift economic recovery from the coronavirus pandemic.
The Stoxx Europe 600 index advanced 0.6 percent. The German DAX gained 0.4 percent, France's CAC 40 index rose 0.6 percent and the U.K.'s FTSE 100 inched up 0.9 percent.
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