SINGAPORE – Asian stocks rose on Monday morning, with the start of the last week of trading in 2020.
In Japan, the Nikkei 225 gained 0.32%, while the Topix index advanced 0.27%. South Korea’s Kospi rose 0.86%.
The broader MSCI index for Asia Pacific stocks outside Japan was traded 0.18% above.
Chinese industrial companies’ profits in November increased 15.5% compared to the previous year, according to data released by the country’s National Bureau of Statistics over the weekend.
Meanwhile, Alibaba’s shares in Hong Kong will be monitored by investors on Monday. This happened after Chinese regulators ordered Al Group’s affiliate Ant Group to rectify its business.
Markets in Australia and New Zealand are closed on Mondays for public holidays.
In the development of the coronavirus, the United States faces an impending government shutdown, as President Donald Trump refused to sign a $ 900 billion Covid-19 relief bill passed by both chambers of Congress. Trump criticized $ 600 direct payments from the account to Americans, demanding checks for $ 2,000.
Coins and oil
The US dollar index, which tracks the US dollar against a basket of its peers, was at 90.199, after falling from levels above 90.4 in the past few days.
The yen traded at 103.54 per dollar, after seeing levels below 103.4 against the dollar last week. The Australian dollar changed hands at $ 0.7613 after recovering from a drop below $ 0.75 last week.
Oil prices fell on the morning of trading in Asia, with international benchmark Brent oil futures falling 0.8% to $ 50.88 a barrel. US oil futures contracts also fell 0.81% to $ 47.84 a barrel.