NEW YORK (AP) — Shares are mixed in Asia, where Chinese markets advanced after a government investment fund said it would step up stock purchases.
But the gains in Shanghai, Shenzhen and Hong Kong were much smaller than recent losses.
Oil prices rose and U.S. futures were mixed.
China’s Central Huijin Investment, a sovereign fund that owns China’s state-run banks and other big government controlled enterprises, promised to expand its purchases of stock index funds to help markets that have been sagging under heavy selling pressure from a property crisis and slowing economy.
The fund periodically steps up buying of shares in big state-owned banks and other companies to counter heavy selling pressure in the Chinese markets. On Monday, benchmarks in Shanghai and the smaller market in Shenzhen bounced between small gains and big losses, while share prices of state-run banks and other big companies rose.
Hong Kong’s Hang Seng
HK:HSI
was up 3.6% at 16,083.64 in a rally led by technology shares such as e-commerce giant Alibaba
BABA,
9988,
which gained 7.4% and JD.com
JD,
9618,
which was up 6.3%.
The Shanghai Composite index
CN:SHCOMP
was up 2.6% at 2,774.12.
Elsewhere in Asia, Tokyo’s Nikkei 225 index
JP:NIK
fell 0.5% to 36,160.66 and the Kospi in South Korea
KR:180721
lost 0.5%, to 2,576.20.
Australia’s S&P/ASX 200
AU:XJO
shed 0.6% to 7,578.90. In Bangkok
TH:SET,
the SET gained 0.9%, while India’s Sensex
IN:1
posted a similar rise.
Read: RBA shifts to neutral stance on interest rates
On Monday, stocks slipped on Wall Street as data showed the economy remains strong, which could delay interest rate cuts investors are counting on.
U.S. stock futures
ES00,
NQ00,
were mixed after the S&P 500 fell 0.3% to 4,942.81 from the all-time high set Friday.
