Stocks in Asia Were Mixed, U.S. Stock Futures Edged Higher

Stocks in Asia-Pacific were mixed on Monday, as investors analyzed HSBC’s results. U.S. stock futures rose on Monday morning after the Dow Jones Industrial Average attained its positive week in a row at a record high.

Dow futures gained 18 points. S&P 500 futures as well as Nasdaq 100 futures traded in mildly positive territory.

Last week, the S&P 500 gained 1.7%. The S&P 500 posted its third straight positive week. It also reached its all-time on Friday. The blue-chip Dow added more than 1% in the previous week.

More than 100 companies, more precisely 117 companies in the S&P 500 that reported earnings to date, 84% surpassed expectations.

In Hong Kong, the Hang Seng index advanced about 0.1% in afternoon trade. Shares of HSBC listed in Hong Kong rose about 1% after the bank on Monday reported a pre-tax profit in the third quarter of 2021 that surpassed expectations.

Its reported pre-tax profit for the third quarter advanced 75.8% from a year ago to $5.4 billion. The bank released around $700 million of cash that was previously set aside to prepare for a rise in loan losses as the global economy was battered by the Covid-19. That decision contributed to improved earnings, while all regions HSBC operates in were profitable during the quarter.

In the meantime, reported revenue for the third quarter was $12 billion, 0.7% higher than a year ago. The bank didn’t announce any dividends for the third quarter. Nevertheless, HSBC said it plans to start a share buyback of up to $2 billion “shortly”.

Shares of China Evergrande Group dropped 0.37% after surging nearly 6% earlier. On Sunday, the firm made an important announcement. China Evergrande Group resumed work on more than 10 projects.

It was a good day for mainland Chinese stocks. The Shanghai composite added 0.32% while the Shenzhen component gained 0.259%.

The Covid-19 continues to affect investor sentiment even in China. The latest outbreak is increasingly likely to spread further, according to a health official. On Monday, China reported 39 new cases, bringing the tally from the latest outbreak to more than over the past week.

In Japan, the Nikkei 225 fell 0.92% while the Topix index dropped 0.48%. South Korea’s Kospi added 0.32%.

In Australia, the S&P/ASX 200 gained 0.41%.

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