Crimson clouds illuminate the skyline of Victoria Harbor on July 14, 2022 in Hong Kong, China.
Li Zhihua | China News Service | Getty Images
Asia-Pacific markets were lower, leading Wall Street’s overnight losses as investors looked ahead to the year ahead.
The Nikkei 225 in Japan fell 0.94% to close at 26,093.67, while the Topix fell 0.72% to 1,895.27. South Korea’s Kospi fell 1.93% to 2,236.4 as the country’s November retail sales fell 1.8%, the third straight month of declines, reversing gains seen in the third quarter . The S&P/ASX 200 in Australia also fell 0.97% to close at 7,020.1.
Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index fell 0.97% in the last hour of trading, despite further easing of Covid restrictions coming into effect today, and reopening-related stocks are being watched closely . The city will release its trade data later in the day.
In mainland China, the Shanghai Composite fell 0.44% to 3,073.7 and the Shenzhen component traded lower to close at 10,996.4.
The US government announced that it will require airline passengers arriving from China, Hong Kong and Macau to show a negative Covid test starting January 5, regardless of nationality of vaccination status.
Overnight on Wall Street, major indexes closed lower as investors headed into the final trading days of 2022, with Apple weighing heavily on the Dow as it broke a key level and fell to another minimum of 52 weeks.
– CNBC’s Tanaya Macheel, Alex Harring contributed to this report