SINGAPORE – Stocks in Asia rose higher Monday morning as the final trading week of 2020 kicks off.
In Japan, the Nikkei 225 gained 0.32% while the Topix index rose 0.27%. South Korean Kospi rose 0.86%.
MSCI’s widest index of Asia-Pacific stocks outside Japan was 0.18% higher.
Profits at Chinese industrial firms were up 15.5% in November from a year earlier, according to data released last weekend by the country’s national statistical office.
Meanwhile, Alibaba’s shares in Hong Kong will be monitored by investors Monday. That’s after Chinese regulators ordered Alibaba-affiliated Ant Group to correct their activities.
Markets in Australia and New Zealand are closed on Mondays due to a public holiday.
In developing the coronavirus, the US faces imminent government shutdown as President Donald Trump refused to sign a $ 900 billion Covid-19 bill passed by both houses of Congress. Trump has criticized the bill’s $ 600 direct payments to Americans, demanding $ 2,000 checks instead.
Currencies and oil
The US dollar index, which tracks the greenback against a basket of its peers, was at 90,199 after falling from levels above 90.4 in recent days.
The Japanese yen traded at 103.54 per dollar after seeing levels below 103.4 against the greenback last week. The Australian dollar changed hands at $ 0.7613 after recovering from a plunge to levels below $ 0.75 last week.
Oil prices fell in the morning of trading hours in Asia, with the international benchmark for Brent crude oil futures falling 0.8% to $ 50.88 a barrel. US crude oil futures also lost 0.81% to $ 47.84 a barrel.