Asia-Pacific markets trade mixed as investors assess intensifying China-Japan tensions

Asia-Pacific markets traded mixed on Monday as investors assessed rising friction between Japan and China after Beijing warned its citizens about travel and study plans in Japan.

Japan’s benchmark  slid 0.1% to close at 50,323.91, while the Topix lost 0.37% at 3,347.53, as tourism-exposed stocks slumped.

Beauty and cosmetics firm Shiseido, which relies heavily on Chinese spending, plunged 9.08%. Isetan Mitsukoshi Holdings, the parent company of the Mitsukoshi and Isetan department-store chains, lost more than 11%. Oriental Land, operator of Tokyo Disney Resort, declined 5.68%. Shares of airline operator ANA Holdings fell 3.35%.

Japan’s economy also contracted by a smaller-than-expected 0.4% in the quarter ended September, compared to the previous one.

South Korea’s Kospi jumped 1.94% to 4,089.25, while the small-cap Kosdaq added 0.53% to 902.67.

Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index lost 0.71%, while the mainland’s CSI 300 retreated 0.65% to 4,598.05.

Australia’s benchmark S&P/ASX 200 closed flat at 8,636.4.

Traders were also watching Thailand’s third-quarter GDP and Singapore’s balance of trade later in the day.

Last Friday in the U.S., the Nasdaq Composite rebounded as investors bought up shares of key technology stocks a day after the group led Wall Street to its worst day in more than a month.

The tech-heavy Nasdaq gained 0.13% to finish at 22,900.59, snapping a three-day losing streak. The S&P 500 finished near the flatline, down just 0.05% at 6,734.11, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average lost 309.74 points, or 0.65%, to settle at 47,147.48.

The three indexes bounced back significantly from their lows earlier in the day, which had the Nasdaq and S&P 500 down 1.9% and about 1.4%, respectively. The Dow had fallen almost 600 points, or roughly 1.3%.