Shares in Taiwanese chipmaker TSMC, meanwhile, could get a boost on Tuesday after the U.S. Commerce Department said it would award the firm’s U.S. unit a $6.6 billion subsidy for advanced semiconductor production in Phoenix, Arizona, and up to $5 billion in low-cost government loans.
The same goes for shares in Samsung. The Biden administration plans to award $6-7 billion to the South Korean tech giant as it seeks to ramp up chipmaking in the U.S., two people familiar with the matter said.
Chinese stocks, meanwhile, have bucked the wider trend. They started the week with a third consecutive daily decline, with the troubled property sector once again front and center of investors’ concerns.
Developer Shimao Group said on Monday that China Construction Bank (Asia) had filed a liquidation petition against it in Hong Kong over unpaid debts, a rare case of a state-owned bank taking such legal action.
The petition centers on Shimao’s failure to repay loans of just over $200 million, and contrasts with legal processes against rival firms China Evergrande Group and Country Garden for defaulting on their debts that were launched by overseas-based creditors.
China’s currency remains under scrutiny too. The onshore yuan is around its weakest level in five months and close to the upper limit of the central bank’s daily trading band, while the offshore yuan is still trading above the band’s ‘ceiling’.
