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Major indices of the Asian region are trading in the negative territory today, with a decline of up to 2.2%. Australia's S&P/ASX 200 sank less than other indices, by just 0.35%. Korea's KOSPI and China's Shanghai Composite and Shenzhen Composite indices dropped a bit more by 1.06%, 1.01%, and 1.22% respectively. The Hang Seng Index suffered the most, posting losses of 2.17%. At the same time, Japan's Nikkei 225 gained 0.78%.
The main reason behind the decline in the Asian stock market was the significant drop in the US stock indices at the end of last week. A sell-off in Wall Street was caused by the recent jobs data released in the US.
The unemployment rate fell to 3.4% last month from 3.5% recorded in December. The reading came in better than the forecast of 3.6%. The number of people employed in the non-agricultural sector rose by 517,000, largely exceeding the analysts' forecast of 190,000.
Market participants are concerned that such positive changes in the US labor market may force the US Federal Reserve to further tighten its monetary policy. The US regulator may have to keep interest rates high for longer than was previously planned.
Another negative factor for the Asian market was the news about a Chinese spy balloon that was shot down by a fighter jet over the US East Coast. Reportedly, the giant balloon entered US airspace on January 28. The Chinese authorities expressed their strong dissatisfaction with the situation.
The main loser of the Hang Seng Index was Alibaba Health Information Technology, whose shares dropped by 8.2%. Sunny Optical Technology Group lost 7.5%, Meituan decreased by 6.3%, JD.com and Xiaomi depreciated by 5% and 5.2% respectively, while Netease Inc. went down by 2.7%.
Korea's KOSPI was affected by a 2.5% decline in Samsung Electronics stock and a 0.7% fall in Hyundai Motor.
Meanwhile, Australia reported a decline in retail sales of 3.9% in December while in November, the indicator was up by 1.7%. This was the first decrease in retail sales in a year.
Components of the S&P/ASX 200 index were trading mixed. Rio Tinto shares gained 0.9% and BHP rose by 0.6%, while Treasury Wine Estates dropped by 0.5%.
Japan's Nikkei 225 posted gains thanks to a 7.5% rise in Mitsubishi Corp shares. Mitsubishi Motors Corp. stocks also advanced by 4.9%, while Kawasaki Kisen Kaisha Ltd. went up by 4.85%.
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