[MARKET ANALYSIS] Asia-Pac stocks are mostly lower amid tech-related pressure and ahead of this week's key events

APAC Stocks: Mixed/Mostly Lower Asia-Pac stocks trade mixed, albeit with a mostly negative bias amid a US-Canada trade war and following quiet geopolitical headlines over the weekend, while participants await this week's key events, including the US announcing the 'toughest sanctions in history' against Iran on Monday, NVIDIA earnings due mid-week and the Jackson Hole Symposium on August 27th-29th. ASX 200: +0.5% Trades higher amid strength in the mining, materials, resources and tech sectors, while participants digest another deluge of earnings releases from Australian companies. Nikkei 225: -0.1% Price action is choppy, with the index trading on both sides of the 66,000 level amid strength in the heavy industries, while tech-related stocks lag with Kioxia and SoftBank among the worst hit. KOSPI -3.2% Underperforms amid losses in the tech heavyweights, with Samsung Electronics and affiliates suffering heavy losses despite last Friday's announcement of its largest-ever shareholder return plan. Hang Seng & Shanghai Comp: Hang Seng -2.1% / Shanghai Comp -0.7% Chinese markets are pressured amid selling in tech and with Alibaba shares suffering heavily after it announced a USD 10bln Hong Kong share sale, while 'Big Short's' Michael Burry announced he sold his Alibaba shares to build a large position in JD.com (9618 HK) and suggested Alibaba was overvalued. US Equity Futures: Marginally lower Demand is contained amid the weakness in Asia and ahead of this week's key events, including NVIDIA earnings. European Equity Futures -0.1% Indicate a slightly lower market open with Euro Stoxx 50 futures down 0.1% after the cash market closed with gains of 0.6% on Friday.