Most of the Asian equity benchmarks are trading up in the early deals on Monday, tracking the gains on Wall Street following the release of better-than-expected US jobs data and on relief after pro-European Union centrist candidate Emmanuel Macron defeated far-right candidate Marine Le Pen to win the closely-watched French presidential election. Meanwhile, Japan's Nikkei share average hit a level not seen in nearly 17 months as the yen stayed weak after Emmanuel Macron was elected president of France, as a business-friendly vision of European integration helped boost investor confidence. Among the other Asian markets, South Korea, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Indonesia and Malaysia are all higher. Bucking the trend, Shanghai and Singapore are lower.
Nikkei 225 jumped 434.83 points or 2.24% to 19,880.53, Hang Seng added 85.71 points or 0.35% to 24,562.06, Jakarta Composite increased 40.93 points or 0.72% to 5,724.31, KOSPI Index gained 14 points or 0.62% to 2,255.24, Taiwan Weighted rose 4.82 points or 0.05% to 9,904.76, and FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI was up by 2.18 points or 0.12% to 1,764.92.
On the flip side, Shanghai Composite decreased 28.49 points or 0.92% to 3,074.55, and Straits Times was down by 1.79 points or 0.06% to 3,227.94.