Asian stock indexes mixed; hurricane Harvey weighs on sentiment

Asian markets began a new week under pressure on Monday, as concerns about the impact of hurricane Harvey weighted in US growth expectations and market sentiment.

By the time of this writing, Japan's Nikkei 225 index was down 0.10 percent, South Korea's Kospi dropped 0.65 percent as Pyongyang launched short-range ballistic missiles on Saturday.

Meanwhile, Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 fell 0.66 percent, while the Shanghai Composite eased 0.86 percent and the Hong Kong Hang Seng index was able to gain 0.56 percent.

Over the weekend, a strong flooding has affected Houston, Texas, as hurricane Harvey expanded its impact on continental land. According to latest reports, rain averaged about 66 cm in some areas, which is a much larger quantity than emergency services expected.

The storm and flooding has forced thousands out of their homes. Local authorities said there were about 6,000 requests for rescues.

In the light of this catastrophe, gasoline futures rose to two-year highs in early trading hours on Monday as Harvey is affecting the heart of America’s energy sector.

Key oil refineries in the area, including Shell’s Deer Park and Exxon Mobil’s Baytown plants were shut down in reaction to the unsustainable weather conditions.

Market experts believe these measures would cost more than 1 million barrels per day in refining capacity only in Houston, without taking into account the Corpus Christi area.

Asian traders were also paying close attention to the euro, which moved to a 2-½ year peak against the dollar following Friday’s speeches from key central bankers.

Speaking at the Jackson Hole symposium, European Central Bank President Mario Draghi said the recovery is on track, but warned about future demographic challenges. In his opinion, monetary accommodation is still required to keep the euro zone moving forward as inflation remains far from the regulator's target.

Ahead in the day, US goods trade balance for July is set for release as of 12:30 GMT. Japan will release household spending and its jobs/applications ratio for July at 23:30 GMT.

Fort Financial Services