AUS
NZ
UK
CA
USA
IND
Highlights
- Most APAC markets began the week on a positive note.
- Australia recorded an unprecedented surge in fresh COVID-19 cases.
- Investors are keeping track of Meituan results.
Asia Pacific shares on Monday closed mostly in the green, with Australian stocks recovering from an early morning loss despite COVID-19 cases in the country spiking.
In Japan, the benchmark Nikkei 225 rose 0.54% to close the day’s trade at 27,789.29. On the other hand, the Topix index rallied 1.11% to close at 1,950.14. In South Korea, the KOSPI ended the trading up 0.33% at 3,144.19 points.
In Mainland China, stocks were mixed on the day as the Shanghai composite rose 0.17% to close at 3,528.15, while the Shenzhen Component dipped fractionally – 0.09% -- to close at 14,423.37. In the Chinese administrative region of Hong Kong, the benchmark Hang Seng Index rose 0.32% to close the day’s trade at 25,488 points.
Down Under in Australia, shares rose despite an unprecedented spike in COVID-19 cases. The benchmark ASX200 in Australia closed 0.22% higher at 7,504.50. The country’s most populous state and financial powerhouse New South Wales had reported 1,293 cases on Monday – a record one-day rise since the onset of the pandemic.
Meanwhile, Morgan Stanley Capital International’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan remained flat.
Investors in the region looked ahead to the release of earnings from Chinese food delivery giant Meituan on Monday.
Meanwhile, Beijing is said to have been looking at new rules that would restrict domestic internet firms from going public in the US, according to the news reports.
Shares of Meituan – which is listed in Hong Kong – were up 1.99% on Monday. Other Chinese tech shares in Hong Kong were mixed: Tencent slipped 0.73% while Alibaba gained 0.96%. The Hang Seng Tech index, on the other hand, climbed 0.77%.
In the US, Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell had, earlier on Friday, indicated that the central bank is likely to begin tapering before the end of the year, though there is still “much ground to cover” before rate hikes.
