Stock market today: Asian stocks follow Wall Street's retreat, oil prices surge

HONG KONG (AP) — Asian stocks retreated on Monday after U.S. stocks fell as good news on the job market raised inflation worries.

Markets in Japan were closed for a holiday.

U.S. futures dropped while oil prices surged more than $1 a barrel after President Joe Biden’s administration expanded sanctions against Russia’s critically important energy sector over its war in Ukraine. The Biden administration said the sanctions announced Friday were the most significant to date against Moscow’s oil and liquefied natural gas sectors, drivers of Russia’s economy.

U.S. benchmark crude oil surged $1.50 to $78.07 per barrel, while Brent crude, the international standard, rose $1.44 to $81.20 per barrel.

China reported its exports grew at a faster pace than expected in December, as factories rushed to fill orders to beat higher tariffs that U.S. President-elect Donald Trump has threatened to impose once he takes office.

Exports rose 10.7% from a year earlier. Economists had forecast they would grow about 7%. Imports rose 1% year-on-year. Analysts had expected them to shrink about 1.5%. With exports outpacing imports, China’s trade surplus grew to $104.84 billion.

But the upbeat data failed to boost the region's stocks. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng dropped 1.3% to 18,820.46, while the Shanghai Composite lost 0.5% to 3,154.37.

“Adding to the skittish sentiment is the uncertainty over how Asian economies, especially China, will fare under the shadow of the incoming Trump administration’s ‘America First’ trade policies,” Stephen Innes of SPI Asset Management said in a commentary.

Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 dipped 1.5% to 8,166.40. South Korea’s Kospi shed 1.2% to 2,486.14.

On Friday, the S&P 500 tumbled 1.5% to 5,827.04, ending its fourth losing week in the last five. The Dow Jones...