On Monday, shares in the Asia-Pacific market had mixed results, as Chinese stocks led gains and tech stocks in Hong Kong rose. There was a 2.71% increase in the Hang Seng index, as it reached 21,653.90. A report from the Wall Street Journal disclosed that China’s regulatory authorities were ready to allow ride-hailing company Didi and two other tech companies listed in the United States back in the domestic market. They also plan on lifting the ban on these apps for adding new users. This benefitted Chinese tech companies based in Hong Kong, as their shares rose.

There was a 5.04% gain in shares of internet giant Alibaba, while a 9.93% increase was recorded by Meituan in the Hong Kong market. Likewise, there was also a 5.18% rise in Baidu. There was a 4.64% gain recorded in the Hong Kong Hang Seng index, which brought it to 4,601.95. The Shenzhen Component in mainland China rose 2.664% to reach 11,938.12, while there was a 1.28% gain in the Shanghai Composite that brought it to 3,236.37. On Monday, the Purchasing Managers’ Index was released by Caixin Services in China, which was about 41.4. This was a significant improvement over April’s 36.2 reading, but it was still in contraction.

There was an increase of 0.56% in the Japanese Nikkei 225 index, which brought it to 27,915.89. This was because of a jump of 2.77% in the stock of Fast Retailing. There was a 0.31% advancement in the Topix index that brought it to a value of 1,939.11. A 0.45% fall in the S&P/ASX 200 index in Australia saw it close the day at 7,206.30. The MSCI index of Asia-Pacific shares excluding Japan also climbed by 0.8%. Market analysts said that they were currently keeping an eye on the momentum in the United States to see the impact of the higher interest rates.

However, the analysts said that things were not as bearish in the Asian markets as yet. The South Korean markets were closed for trading on Monday due to a holiday. There were some other developments as well, as it was disclosed that President Joe Biden had asked his administration to potentially consider removing some of the tariffs imposed on China for combating inflation. Gina Raimondo, the US Commerce Secretary, said that the president had told his team to analyze the possibility of lifting the levies from certain products.

The US dollar index had risen to a high of 102.211, but it was down to 101.948 once more. As for the Japanese yen, it also showed some weakness against the dollar as it had reached 130.71. Last week, the yen had gone below the 128 mark. Moreover, the Australian dollar had also been trading at a value of more than $0.725 in the previous week, but had declined to $0.7223. In Asian trading hours, oil prices had climbed high, as a 0.68% increase in Brent crude futures was record to bring it to $120.53 a barrel. There was also a 0.69% increase in US crude futures.