Asian stocks rose broadly on Monday as investors kept an eye on U.S. fiscal stimulus negotiations and the movement of the Chinese yuan after a tweak by the country's central bank.
On Sunday, the Trump administration urged Congress to pass a stripped-down coronavirus relief bill, but the Democrats dismissed the proposal as "inadequate."
Chinese stocks led regional gains as the country returned from the eight-day Mid-Autumn festival. The benchmark Shanghai Composite Index jumped 86.39 points, or 2.6 percent, to 3,358.46 as a robust rebound in tourism and ebbing coronavirus cases spurred bets of a quicker economic recovery. Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index rallied 2.2 percent to finish at 24,649.68.
The offshore yuan fell after the People's Bank of China announced a rule change that made it cheaper to short the Chinese currency.
Japanese shares ended slightly lower as the yen strengthened and caution prevailed ahead of earnings season. The Nikkei 225 Index slipped 61 points, or 0.3 percent, to 23,558.69, while the broader Topix closed 0.2 percent lower at 1,643.35. Exporters fell, with Toyota Motor, Sony, Canon and Honda Motor giving up 1-2 percent.
On the economic front, the Cabinet Office said that the value of core machine orders in Japan rose a seasonally adjusted 0.2 percent in August, coming in at 752.5 billion yen. That beat forecasts for a decline of 1.0 percent following the 6.3 percent spike in July.
Australian markets eked out modest gains as investors awaited cues from corporate earnings and quarterly production figures from mining giants due later this week.
The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 Index rose 29.80 points, or 0.5 percent, to 6,132, while the broader All Ordinaries Index ended up 30.60 points, or 0.5 percent, at 6,343.10.
The big four banks rose between 1.3 percent and 2 percent, while mining heavyweights BHP and Rio Tinto dropped 0.4 percent and 0.9 percent, respectively.
Sliding oil prices dented energy stocks, with Santos losing 1 percent and Origin Energy falling 1.6 percent. Whitehaven Coal shares slumped 5.7 percent.
Tech stocks gained ground, with buy-now-pay-later firm Afterpay and Appen both climbing around 2.8 percent.
Seoul stocks rose for the eighth straight session as the government lowered its Covid-19 social distancing guidelines to the lowest level and investors clung to hopes for U.S. stimulus spending. The benchmark Kospi edged up 11.77 points, or 0.5 percent, to 2,403.73.
Chipmakers paced the gainers after data showed exports of memory chips rose an annual 11.2 percent in the first ten days of October. Samsung Electronics rose 1.2 percent and SK Hynix advanced 3.1 percent.
New Zealand shares rose for the ninth straight day and hit another record high, led by energy stocks. The benchmark NZX-50 Index climbed 76.35 points, or 0.6 percent, to 12,356.89.
Contact Energy rallied 3.2 percent and Mercury NZ added 2.8 percent. Dental company Abano Healthcare Group surged 13.2 percent after its scheme of arrangement was revised up from $4.45 to $4.75 a share.
U.S. stocks rose on Friday to end the session at their best closing levels in over a month after President Trump said he would like to see a "bigger stimulus package than either the Democrats or Republicans are offering."
Trump's comments came amid reports that the White House was planning to offer a $1.8 trillion package, which is up from the administration's previous $1.6 trillion proposal but still below the $2.2 trillion bill passed by House Democrats.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 0.6 percent, the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite climbed 1.4 percent and the S&P 500 added 0.9 percent.
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