Asian shares in mainland China rose on Monday as investors monitored the ongoing virus outbreak’s impact on Chinese manufacturers. Factories in China were set to return to work on Monday, but many are expected to remain shut for longer.
Asian Shares
- Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index, on the other hand, slipped 0.7% as of its final hour of trading.
- In Japan, the Nikkei 225 slipped 0.6% to close at 23,685.98.
- The Topix index declined 0.72% to end its trading day at 1,719.64.
- South Korea’s Kospi also fell 0.49% to close at 2,201.07.
- The S&P/ASX 200 in Australia shed 0.14% to close at 7,012.50.
- The MSCI Asia ex-Japan index was 0.39% lower.
Currencies
- The U.S. dollar index, which tracks the greenback against a basket of its peers, was last at 98.651 after rising from levels below 97.6 last week.
- The Japanese yen traded at 109.77 per dollar after seeing an earlier high of 109.55.
- The Australian dollar changed hands at $0.6695 after touching an earlier low of $0.6656.
Oil Prices
- Oil prices were lower in the afternoon of Asian trading hours, with international benchmark
- Brent crude futures down 0.2% to $54.36 per barrel.
- The U.S. crude futures contract also shed 0.26% to $50.19 per barrel.
