Asian shares ended mixed on Monday amid cautious optimism about a global rebound from the coronavirus pandemic. Chinese stocks led the gains while markets in Singapore, India, Jakarta and Malaysia were on the lower side.
Overnight, US indices closed at record highs for another week as Dow Jones climbed 150 points to close above 34200. Bond yields fell to 1.53% even as oil prices see best week for the last 3 months. Rise in oil indicates expectations of more demand as vaccine roll out globally gathers momentum.
Asian markets opened mixed with the Japanese Nikkei trading flat. Nikkei ended flat at 29,685.37. Korean Kospi also ended flat at 3,198.84. Asutralian ASX 200 also ended on flat note while its Trans Tasmanian markets in New Zealand edged 0.65% higher.
Chinese stocks gathered momentum after underperforming for the last 2 months. The gains were led in new energy vehicles firms, while strong foreign inflows also helped sentiment. Shanghai Composite ended 1.49% higher while Shenzhen spurted 2.89%. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng was 120 points higher while markets in Taiwan also gained 0.61%.
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