Asia Mostly Lower, Friday’s Lows Hold In E-Minis

Benchmark east Asian equity indices trade lower amidst a negative lead from Wall St., after heightened worry re: the Russia-Ukraine situation weighed on risk assets at the backend of last week’s final NY session. The Nikkei 225, TAIEX and KOSPI are 1.7% to 2.2% worse off at typing, after edging away from worst levels observed earlier in the session. The Hang Seng and CSI300 fell less than their major Asia-Pac peers, dealing 1.2% and 0.7% softer respectively.

• Australia’s ASX 200 provided the lone bright spot amongst Asia-Pac equity indices, as gains in energy and heavily weighted financials countered sharper losses in tech stocks, helping the ASX200 to add 0.4% by end of Monday’s trade.
• E-mini equity futures are ~0.2% better off at typing, after Friday’s lows held in early Asia-Pac trade. The lack of outright weekend escalation surrounding the Russia-Ukraine situation probably facilitated such a move (it would have also facilitated the bounce from lows for some of the major Asia-Pac indices).