Lower To Start The Week

A broadly negative day for stocks in the Asia-Pac time zone, markets in mainland China and Hong Kong were the subject of heavy selling which put pressure on other indices in the region. China's antitrust regulator imposed a record fine on Alibaba following a long investigation, Alibaba managed to rally despite the fine and even as the broader market declined. Markets in South Korea proved resilient, buoyed by shipmakers after another large order and the National Pension Service increases upper limit of strategic investment weighting of local stocks to 19.8% from the current 18.8%. Japan came under pressure as markets assess a rise in coronavirus infections and reports the Osaka may declare a state of emergency. US futures are lower after rallying into the end of last week, Fed chair Powell was on the wires earlier, he said that while the outlook had brightened substantially there were still risks. He also reiterated that the Fed would keep supporting the economy until the recovery was complete.