Analyst recaps Asian stock markets' Monday performances

Hong Kong equities closed lower in a broad sell-off, with the Hang Seng Index down 2.2 percent, a trend echoed in Tokyo where the Nikkei 225 also fell, according to China Global Television Network (CGTN) market analyst Timothy Pope.

"In Hong Kong, only a handful of stocks on the Hang Seng rose, and the index ended the session down by 2.2 percent. Among the gainers, the leader was the casino operator Sands China -- up 4 percent. That followed news that Macao gross gaming revenue was up 24 percent year on year in January to 2.8 billion U.S. dollars," he said.

"Over in Japan, we saw the Nikkei 225 down 1.25 percent despite a weaker yen. Obviously, gold-linked equities traded lower, but so did the tech heavyweights in Japan today as well," the analyst added.

Analyst recaps Asian stock markets' Monday performances

Analyst recaps Asian stock markets' Monday performances

China made public a work plan on Friday to further upgrade service consumption infrastructures and support housekeeping, elderly care and childcare sectors.

The document, jointly released by the Ministry of Commerce and eight other departments, outlined 64 measures to boost service consumption, including traditional sectors like catering and accommodation, tourism, as well as elderly care and childcare.

Emerging growth sectors, such as housekeeping, performance services and inbound consumption, are also covered.

These measures will create new consumption scenarios amid efforts to drive service consumption and meet people's growing needs for a better life, according to the ministry.

China unveils plan to further boost service consumption