Japan's Nikkei 225 jumps nearly 2% as investors watch regional Covid situation

• China's central bank announced Friday a 50 basis points cut in its reserve requirement ratio for all banks, effective from July.
• Japan's government is set to put Tokyo under a new Covid state of emergency on Monday while stricter social distancing restrictions are set to kick in for the greater Seoul area in South Korea, according to local media reports.
• Elsewhere in Southeast Asia, several countries including Indonesia and Malaysia continue to struggle with a recent surge in infections, according to Reuters.

SINGAPORE — Stocks in Asia-Pacific rose in Monday morning trade as investors continue to monitor the Covid situation regionally.

In Japan, the Nikkei 225 rose 1.78% in early trade while the Topix index jumped 1.71%. South Korea's Kospi also advanced 0.79%.

The S&P/ASX 200 in Australia edged 0.36% higher.

MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan traded 0.31% higher.

In economic news, China's central bank announced Friday a 50 basis points cut in its reserve requirement ratio for all banks, effective from July.

The move was intended to demonstrate that the country has "a variety of policy tools to conduct monetary policy," ANZ Research's Raymond Yeung and Zhaopeng Xing wrote in a Friday note.

The RRR cut was "almost equivalent to a broad-based easing," Yeung and Xing said, as it is set to release about 1 trillion Chinese yuan ($154 billion) in funds.

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Covid in Asia-Pacific

Investors continued to watch the coronavirus situation in Asia-Pacific on Monday.

Japan's government is set to put Tokyo under a new Covid state of emergency on Monday while stricter social distancing restrictions are set to kick in for the greater Seoul area in South Korea, according to local media reports.

Elsewhere in Southeast Asia, several countries including Indonesia and Malaysia continue to struggle with a recent surge in infections, according to Reuters.

Currencies

The U.S. dollar index, which tracks the greenback against a basket of its peers, was at 92.154 after a recent slide from above 92.4.

The Japanese yen traded at 110.21 per dollar, weaker than levels seen below 110 against the greenback last week. The Australian dollar changed hands at $0.7488, still below levels above $0.755 seen last week.

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