SINGAPORE — South Korea stocks led gains in Asia-Pacific markets early on Monday as investors looked ahead to announcements later in the week.
The Kospi rose 1.21% and the Kosdaq was up 0.92%.
In Australia, the S&P/ASX 200 rose 0.52%.
Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index climbed 0.47%.
Mainland China markets were mixed. The Shanghai Composite was 0.36% higher and the Shenzhen Component shed 0.44%.
“A positive tone should be the order of the day in Asian trading in a week with little local macro content to focus on,” ING’s Robert Carnell and Iris Pang wrote in a note on Monday.
Vasu Menon, executive director of investment strategy at OCBC, said he sees more downside risk for volatile markets at this point given various uncertainties.
“But at the same time, you know, sentiment can change very quickly especially if you see positive economic data, positive earnings surprises, so it’s a very fluid situation,” he told CNBC’s “Squawk Box Asia” on Monday.
MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan gained 0.5%.
Japan’s market was closed for a holiday Monday.
New Zealand’s consumer price index rose 7.3% in the June 2022 quarter compared to the same period a year ago, official data showed Monday. That’s a 32-year high for the country, and the main driver was rising prices for construction and rentals for housing, Stats NZ said.
The Reserve Bank of New Zealand last week raised interest rates by 50 basis points in a bid to fight inflation. The New Zealand dollar on Monday gained 0.55% to $0.6193.
Elsewhere in the Asia-Pacific region, Macao’s government said it would extend a suspension of operations for all industries, commercial companies and venues in the special administrative region until Friday.
Casino stocks listed in Hong Kong were hit last week when the initial announcement was made.
Later this week, investors will be looking out for the Reserve Bank of Australia’s meeting minutes, China’s one-year and five-year loan prime rate decision and the Bank of Japan’s interest rate decision.
On Friday in the U.S., the Dow Jones Industrial Average soared more than 600 points as markets reacted to bank earnings and economic data.
The Dow jumped 658.09 points or 2.15% to close at 31,288.26, and the S&P 500 rose 1.92% to 3,863.16. The Nasdaq Composite climbed 1.79% to 11,452.42.
Currencies
The U.S. dollar index, which tracks the greenback against a basket of its peers, was at 107.793, falling after rising above 109 last week.
The Japanese yen traded at 138.11 per dollar, after weakening sharply last week. The Australian dollar was at $0.6814.
Oil futures slid in Asia’s morning trade. U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude declined 0.64% to $96.97 per barrel, while Brent crude shed 0.21% to $100.95 per barrel.