The Hong Kong stock exchange lost ground on the first trading day of May on Monday. Investors mainly kept an eye on the corona situation in India, where the number of corona infections has been above 300,000 for twelve days in a row.
A series of macroeconomic data from the United States was also awaited, which will be released later this week.
Trading was also relatively calm as the major financial markets in Tokyo and Shanghai are closed until Wednesday due to national holidays. Investors also had a day off in Thailand. The Hang Seng index in Hong Kong lost 1.5 percent in the meantime.
The chip makers were in the spotlight after statements by CEO Pat Gelsinger of the sizeable American chip manufacturer Intel. Gelsinger said in an interview with CBS News that the global semiconductor shortage is likely to continue for a few more years.
Due to the high demand for chips for laptops and smartphones, chipmakers struggle to meet the increasing demand due to the high levels of working from home. The automotive industry, in particular, is therefore struggling with a shortage of chips. Chinese chipmaker SMIC fell 1.4 percent in Hong Kong, and competitor TSMC lost 2 percent in Taiwan.
The Kospi in Seoul fell 0.7 percent despite a further recovery in South Korean exports. Exports rose 41.1 percent in April from a year ago when the corona pandemic badly hit the global economy. The most substantial growth in ten years and exports showed a recovery for the sixth month in a row. The development was somewhat slower than what economists had generally expected.