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The equity markets across the Asia Pacific region surged on Monday morning, with indexes in Australia, Hong Kong and the Chinese mainland making gains.
The gains in the region were led by the Chinese and Hong Kong markets.
Chinese mainland shares were rallying at the time of filing this copy: the Shanghai Composite firmed up 0.95% while the Shenzhen Component was trading up by 0.28%. The country is expected to release inflation data today.
In the Chinese Special Administrative Region (SAR) of Hong Kong, the Hang Seng index – which was otherwise battered by the Chinese purge on tech companies – led the gains across the region, moving up 1.14%.
Down Under, in Australia, the benchmark ASX200 rose 0.10% despite COVID-19 weighing down on the market sentiments.
The state of New South Wales recorded 283 new locally acquired infections, while Victoria registered 11 cases. According to reports, about 15 million people, or 60% of the country’s population, are under a strict lockdown to battle the spread of the Delta variant.
However, financial stocks lifted the market sentiment. Financial shares witnessed buying-interest from investors, driven by robust earnings numbers from Suncorp Group Ltd (ASX:SUN) and Aurizon Holdings Ltd (ASX:AZJ). Banking major Westpac Banking Corp’s (ASX:WBC) announcement to sell its life insurance business also boosted investor sentiment.
In South Korea, the KOSPI retraced most of its earlier losses and traded near flatline with 0.04% gains.
Japan markets were closed on account of Mountain Day – a national holiday. In Singapore as well, markets were closed on account of National Day.
