Asian Stock Market: Trades mix on US-China tensions, China’s Services PMI outperforms

Markets in the Asian domain are displaying a mixed performance on escalating US-China tensions over Taiwan. The collection of Russian naval ships and Chinese ships at the Taiwanese disputed island has created havoc in the global markets. The speech from US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi on supporting economic exchanges between the US and Taiwan is making China anxious. In retaliation to China’s military move, Taiwan’s Defence Ministry has cited that they will counter any move from China that will violate Taiwan's territorial sovereignty.

At the press time, Japan’s Nikkei225 added 0.40%, SZSE Component gained 0.24, Hang Seng jumped 0.63%, while Nifty50 eased 0.20%.

Chinese indices are mostly trading positive as IHS Markit has reported upbeat Caixin Services PMI data. The Caixin Services PMI data has landed at 55.5, significantly higher than the expectations of 48 and the prior release of 54.5. A higher-than-expected improvement in the economic data has supported the Chinese equities despite the geopolitical tensions.

Meanwhile, the US dollar index (DXY) has attempted a rebound after printing an intraday low of 106.00 in the Asian session. The DXY is likely to dance to the tunes of US Nonfarm Payrolls (NFP), which are due on Friday. A halt in the recruitment process by big US corporate players and soaring interest rates by the Federal Reserve (Fed) may trim the job additions than their prior release. The jobless rate is seen unchanged at 3.6%.