Asian stock markets ended mostly higher on Monday, following broadly positive cues from Wall Street on Friday. The markets remained tense and cautious amid the surge in coronavirus cases in the region, particularly in Japan and India, as well as the possible related lockdowns in economic activity in several markets. Traders also await fresh cues from the US Federal Reserve and Bank of Japan gatherings later this week.
On Friday, US stocks closed with gains as Dow Jones recovered to close above 34000 while Nasdaq outperformed this week. Asian markets opened muted with the South Korean Kospi leading the gainers while the Japanese Nikkei oscillated between red & green to trade marginally higher in early trade.
Most Asian markets have consolidated well and saw upside as vaccines spread well into recovery in most Asian economies.
Kospi closed almost 1% higher while Nikkei finished with gains of over 105 points. Australian ASX 200 finished marginally lower while market in New Zealand ended higher. SGX Nifty gained 1.25%. Nifty50 in Indian market was 1% higher. Taiwan surged 1.57%.
Chinese stocks struggled as Shanghai Composite traded 0.95% lower and Shenzhen also closed 0.89% on the downside. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng also shed over 125 points.
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