Asian shares are mostly higher, with Tokyo stocks gaining on expectations that a pandemic state of emergency will be lifted for all of Japan.
Asian Shares
- Japan’s benchmark Nikkei 225 added 1.5% in morning trading to 20,682.78.
- South Korea’s Kospi gained 0.6% to 1,981.92.
- Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 jumped 1.4% to 5,572.30.
- Hong Kong’s Hang Seng dropped 1.2% to 22,659.62.
- The Shanghai Composite was little changed, edging 0.1% higher to 2,815.94.
Commodities
- In other trading Monday, benchmark US crude oil picked up 2 cents to $33.27 a barrel.
- It fell 2%, or 67 cents, to $33.25 a barrel on Friday.
- Brent crude oil, the international standard, fell 22 cents to $34.91 a barrel.
- Crude oil started the year at about $60 a barrel and then plummeted as demand sank due to widespread travel and business shutdowns related to the coronavirus.
Currency Markets
- The US dollar inched up to 107.72 Japanese yen from 107.63 yen late Friday.
- The euro inched down to $1.0892 from $1.0901.
