By Gina Lee

Investing.com – Asia Pacific stocks were mixed on Monday morning. However, parts of Europe implemented restrictive measures to curb the continent’s latest COVID-19 outbreak, and investors are also calculating the risk that the U.S. Federal Reserve will speed up asset tapering.

Japan’s was down 0.30% by 9:13 PM ET (2:13 AM GMT). South Korea’s jumped 1.07%, with the due to hand down its policy decision on Thursday.

In Australia, the was down 0.50% while Hong Kong’s inched down 0.10%.

China’s was up 0.41% while the was gained 0.53%, with the People’s Bank of China (PBOC) keeping its one-year  unchanged at 3.85% earlier in the day. The yuan also remains in focus after PBOC advisor Liu Shijin warned that the Chinese economy could enter a period of “quasi-stagflation” at Sunday’s China Macroeconomy Forum.

The escalating number of COVID-19-related cases in Europe prompted Germany and Monday to increase restrictive measures.

U.S. Treasuries saw a decline in rally with yields for five-year and 30 year maturities close to their lowest level since March 2020. This was due to concerns about Fed’s potential acceleration of the Fed’s bond-buying program.

Fed Vice Chairman Richard Clarida, Governor Christopher Waller, and St. Louis Fed President James Bullard have all indicated that speeding up the pace of asset tapering could be discussed at the central bank’s next meeting in December.

“What we are likely to see this week is more Fed members socializing that idea of a more rapid QE taper,” Prestige Economics president and chief economist Jason Schenker told Bloomberg.

“If that idea gets out there and is repeatedly underscored, that will increase the probability that the tapering that’s announced in December will be quicker than the pace that was announced early in November,” he added

Although there are concerns over rising COVID-19 numbers as winter approaches in the northern hemisphere and higher inflation, overall global share remains close to record levels.

On the data front, the U.S. and the eurozone will release their purchasing managers’ indexes on Tuesday. Further data from the U.S., including the , , and , will be released on Wednesday ahead of Thursday’s Thanksgiving holiday.