Japan’s Nikkei 225 index hit a fresh high Monday as traders returned from a long weekend, while China markets snapped a nine-day winning streak.
The Nikkei ended 0.4% higher at 39,233.71, comfortably above its previous closing record of 39,098.68. The index breached its 1989 all-time high of 38,915.87 on Thursday. The broader Topix rose 0.5% to 2,673.62.
Contrastingly, a strong rally in China stocks stalled, with the CSI 300 index falling 1.04% to close at 3,453.36.
South Korea’s financial regulatory body unveiled new measures to improve corporate governance on Monday, taking a leaf out of Japan’s playbook to help boost its undervalued markets and tackle the “Korea discount.”
But the measures did little to boost its main index on the day. The Kospi ended 0.8% lower at 2,647.08, while the small-cap Kosdaq fell 0.1% to 867.40.
Investors await a slew of economic data expected this week including China’s manufacturing purchasing managers’ index and the U.S. personal consumption expenditures price index data, which is the Federal Reserve’s preferred inflation gauge.
Wall Street’s main indexes hit record highs Friday as investors closed out the week on an upbeat note.
The S&P 500 inched higher by 0.03% to close at 5,088.8, breaking above 5,100 for the first time earlier in the session.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average added 0.16% by close, also reaching a fresh record closing high. The Nasdaq Composite closed 0.28% lower but had notched a fresh all-time high earlier in the session.