After Chinese property developer Evergrande warned late Friday it may run out of money, shares were mixed in Asia on Monday.
Hong Kong dropped 1.2%, but the Shanghai Composite index rose. South Korea's benchmark was advanced but Tokyo and Sydney declined.
More broadly, investors are struggling with uncertainty about the newest coronavirus variant and when the Federal Reserve will cut off its support for markets.
Regulators were trying to reassure investors after Evergrande, one of China's biggest developers, said it may run out of money to perform its financial obligations as it struggles to comply with pressures to reduce its $310 billion debt.
There is a worry that unsustainable levels of debt could cause a financial crisis in the property sector. China wants to avoid a bailout but is unlikely to let the situation deteriorate to the point where problems would escalate to that level.
A number of real estate companies have been in trouble as the government has pushed to reduce debt levels, but officials have issued statements saying China's financial system is strong and default rates are low. Most developers are financially healthy and Beijing will keep lending markets functioning, according to the most recent statements.
Evergrande's shares 3333 plunged 9.8% on Monday, helping pull the Hang Seng HSI, in Hong Kong, down more than 1%.
The benchmark was dragged down by a Chinese tech giant, Alibaba 9988, which had been embroiled in a multi-faceted crackdown on the industry, but lost 5.4% after the company said it was replacing its chief financial officer, Maggie Wu and overhauling its e-commerce business.
In Tokyo, the Nikkei 225 NIK gave up 0.4%, and the S&P ASX 200 XJO in Sydney fell by 0.1%. The Shanghai Composite Index, or SHCOMP, increased by 0.4%, while the Kospi 180721, in Seoul, was 0.4% higher. Benchmark indexes in Singapore STI, Taiwan Y 9999, and Indonesia JAKIDX went up.
This week will force uncomfortable contemplation about the known unknowns that are mainly associated with omicron, Fed tightening and China regulatory property risks, according to Mizuho Bank.
That will bring more uncertainty, it said.
A mixed batch of U.S. job market data triggered a bout of dizzying trading last week s on Wall Street ended Friday with more losses for stocks.
The S&P 500 SPX closed 0.8% lower, at 4,538. The Dow DJIA lost ground to 34,580, a loss of 0.2%. The Nasdaq COMP fell 1.9% to 15,085. Friday's jobs report, which is usually the most anticipated economic data by Wall Street each month, shows that employers added only 210,000 jobs last month. Economists were expecting more than 530,000 jobs, and it raised concerns that the economy may stagnate while inflation remains high. That is a worse-case scenario called stagflation by economists, and the arrival of the omicron variant makes its likelihood more uncertain.
Some investors said that the jobs report could push the Fed to get more aggressive about raising short-term interest rates off their record low. Others said they expected the mixed report to have no effect.
Since the early days of the epidemic, the S&P 500 has doubled due to low interest rates, which is why the Fed matters for stocks. There is a low rate that encourages borrowers to spend more and investors to pay higher prices for stocks.
The Fed is slowing its program to buy billions of dollars of bonds a month to support the economy and markets.
With few concrete answers about omicrons, investors have been sending markets back and forth as little clues dribble out. It is not known whether current vaccines are effective against the variant, whether people will be scared away from businesses because of it and whether already high inflation will worsen due to it.
The U.S. benchmark crude oil CLF 22, moved from $1.46 to $67.72 per barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. It dropped 24 cents to $66.26 on Friday.
Brent crude BRNG 22, the standard for pricing international oils, picked up $1.43 to $71.31 per barrel.
The US dollarUSDJPY rose to 113.00 Japanese yen from 112.92 yen.