Asia-Pacific stocks mostly fall

SINGAPORE — Major markets in Asia-Pacific largely fell on Monday as investors continue to monitor developments surrounding the recently discovered omicron Covid variant. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index slipped 0.95% to close at 23,852.24. Hong Kong-listed shares of Chinese tech giant Meituan lost 7% after the firm on Friday posted a loss of about 10 billion Chinese yuan ($1.56 billion) for the three months ended Sept. 30. 

Shares of Sun Entertainment Group in Hong Kong sank 30.97% after the South China Morning Post reported that controlling shareholder Alvin Chau Cheok-wa was among a group of people arrested over alleged gambling offences. Shares of Suncity Group, where Chau is CEO, were suspended on Monday “pending the release of an announcement in relation to news coverage” about Chau. 

Mainland Chinese stocks closed mixed, with the Shanghai composite falling fractionally to 3,562.70 and the Shenzhen component nudging 0.223% higher to 14,810.20. In Japan, the Nikkei 225 declined 1.63% to close at 28,283.92 while the Topix index dropped 1.84% to 1,948.48. South Korea’s Kospi shed 0.92%, closing at 2,909.32. Shares in Australia also slipped as the S&P/ASX 200 fell 0.54% on the day to 7,239.80. MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan shed 0.41%.