Japanese stocks soared on Monday, with the exporter-heavy Nikkei 225 share average buoyed by the yen’s slide to its lowest point in a nearly a year and after the U.S. avoided a government shutdown.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
However, the rest of the region’s equity markets were mixed, with Australia’s oil and resource shares hurt by the decline in crude prices last week.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Trading was also thinned by a market holiday in Hong Kong, while mainland China had been shut since Friday for the Golden Week holiday, which runs until the end of this week.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The Nikkei\u00a0(.N225)\u00a0jumped to be 1.6% higher as of 0100 GMT, rebounding from its lowest close in more than a month at the end of last week.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
U.S. stock futures rose 0.6%, pointing to a rebound from the S&P 500’s 0.3% drop on Friday.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The weekend’s last-minute\u00a0stopgap funding bill\u00a0allowed the government to keep operating through Nov. 17, and means key data releases including Friday’s monthly payrolls report can go ahead on time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
“The shutdown risks are only delayed, not eliminated,” TD Securities strategists wrote in a client note.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
“A sense of reduced uncertainty is likely to drive a small relief in markets,” but “market volatility is likely to remain elevated as investors wait for the next catalyst, which is likely to be top-tier data.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Japanese stocks were also boosted by the Bank of Japan’s quarterly\u00a0Tankan survey, which showed an improvement in business sentiment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
At the same time, the yen slid on Monday to its lowest since Oct. 21 at 149.74 per dollar , even as the broader rally in the U.S. currency took a breather following the dollar index’s climb to a 10-month peak last week.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
A weaker yen increases corporate earnings garnered abroad when they are repatriated.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Elsewhere in the region, the mood was more muted. South Korea’s Kospi\u00a0(.KS11)\u00a0rose 0.1%, while Australia’s benchmark stock index\u00a0(.AXJO)\u00a0edged down 0.05%.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In addition to the drag on energy and other resource shares, Australian investors were also cautious ahead of a Reserve Bank policy decision on Tuesday, the first under new governor Michele Bullock.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
New Zealand’s central bank sets policy on Wednesday. The country’s stock benchmark\u00a0(.NZ50)\u00a0fell 0.5%.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Declines in Antipodean equities came despite\u00a0fresh signs\u00a0that the economy of key trading partner China may be stabilising. Although a private gauge of factory activity in data over the weekend unexpectedly declined, it stayed in expansionary territory – a day after official data registered the first expansion in six months.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Crude oil recovered some ground from Friday’s 1% tumble, as the positive news from the U.S. and China improved the outlook for demand.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Brent December crude futures rose 18 cents, or 0.2%, to $92.38 a barrel after falling 90 cents at the end of last week. U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude futures gained 23 cents, or 0.3%, to $91.02 a barrel, after losing 92 cents on Friday.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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