U.S. President Donald Trump was transferred to the Walter Reed National Military Medical Center on Friday. Investors are closely monitoring the situation to learn more about Trump’s health. Interestingly, shares of oil companies in Asia-Pacific were mixed on Monday.
For example, in Australia Beach Energy added 5.6% and Santos advanced 4.71%. Also, Japan’s Inpex soared 4.34%. Nevertheless, in Hong Kong shares of PetroChina dropped 1.32% and CNOOC fell 1.21%.
Shares of SMIC and U.S. sanctions 
Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 gained 2.59% to close at 5’941.60 as shares of the country’s major banks jumped on Monday.
Shares of Australia and New Zealand Banking Group rose 4.22% and shares of Commonwealth Bank of Australia gained 3.56%. Also, shares of Westpac added 4.35% and National Australia Bank jumped 4%.
Interestingly, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index added 1.32% on the day to 23’767.78, with shares of HSBC soaring 4.03%.
Japanese stocks also saw gains on the day. The Nikkei 225 gained 1.23% to close at 23’312.14. At the same time, the Topix index added 1.74% to finish its trading day at 1’637.25.
South Korea’s Kospi advanced 1.29% on the day to 2’358.
It is worth noting that, stock exchanges in mainland China did not work on Monday due to a holiday.
Let’s have a look at the shares of China’s largest chipmaker Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corporation (SMIC).
Importantly, Hong Kong-listed shares of SMIC dropped 4.64% on Monday. The firm announced that it has undertaken “preliminary exchanges” with the U.S. Bureau of Industry and Security on export restrictions.
Sanctions on the chipmaker is a serious threat to China’s tech ambitions. U.S sanctions on SMIC comes at a time when tensions are rising between the U.S. and China. Tensions between the largest economies have the potential to create problems for companies around the world. Both governments should understand that tensions will create additional issues in the future.
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