Asian Stocks Move Mostly Higher In Holiday Trading

Asian markets moved mostly higher on Monday amidst holidays in several countries, including China, Hong Kong and South Korea.

The Bank of Japan continuing with its ultra-loose monetary policy and maintaining the status quo on the yield curve control policy helped sentiment. The mood was also supported by the view that Reserve Bank of Australia would be holding rates steady in its impending review due on Tuesday.

The Japanese benchmark Nikkei 225 Index gained 266.74 points or 0.9 percent to end trading at 29,123.18. The day’s trading range was between 29,016.83 and 29,145.89.

NEC Corp. topped with a gain of more than 14 percent. Odakyu Electric Railway Co. gained 5.7 percent. SKY Perfect JSAT Holdings, Keisei Electric Railway Co. and Mitsubishi Electric Corp. all gained more than 4 percent.

Z Holdings Corp. was the biggest laggard with a decline of 5.6 percent. Nippon Electric Glass Co. followed with a decline of 5.4 percent. Alps Electric Co. shed 4.1 percent. Sumitomo Dainippon Pharma Co. and Mitsui O.S.K. Lines both declined more than 3 percent.

Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 Index closed trading at 7,334.60 after gaining 25.40 points or 0.4 percent.

Resmed surged 6.6 percent. Lithium producer Lake Resources followed with a gain of 6 percent. Imugene added 4 percent followed by Pinnacle Investment Management Group and HMC Capital, both of which added more than 3 percent.

Syrah Resources dropped more than 10 percent following the graphite producer’s quarterly update last week. Silverlake Resources shed 4.7 percent. Pilbara minerals declined 3.3 percent. Nanosonics and Life360 both declined more than 2 percent.

Meanwhile, the NZX 50 Index of the New Zealand Stock Exchange shed 16.87 points or 0.1 percent to close at 12,002.97. Trading ranged between 11,933.44 and 12,019.84.

Building materials business Fletcher Building and Property for Industry, a REIT, both gained more than 2 percent. Polymer business Skellerup Holdings, aquaculture farming business Sanford and software business Vista Group International all added more than 1 percent.

Synlait Milk and Freightways both shed more than 2 percent. Skycity Entertainment Group, banking business Heartland Group Holdings and healthcare business Pacific Edge, all lost more than 1 percent.

Wall Street had closed on a positive note on Friday amidst better-than-expected earnings updates. The Nasdaq Composite gained 0.69 percent to close at 12,226.58 whereas the Dow Jones Industrial Average added 0.80 percent to finish trading at 34,098.16.

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