Asian equity markets ended mostly in green on Monday as weaker than expected US housing and consumer sentiment data tempered expectations for a spate of interest rate increases this year and French voters gave President Emmanuel Macron's upstart party a solid victory in Sunday's second-round election. Macron's party won a clear parliamentary majority at the weekend, giving him a strong mandate in parliament to pursue his pro-EU, business-friendly reform plans. Brexit negotiations with the European Union are set to begin today after Britain bowed to EU pressure for a formal opening to their long-awaited negotiations rather than first holding technical talks between civil servants. Chinese shares ended higher as liquidity conditions have eased and data showed the property market continued to stabilize in May after stricter measures to curb demand. Further, Japanese shares hit two-week highs amid yen weakness as data showed Japan saw a surprise trade deficit in May because of a rise in imports.
Asian Indices | Last Trade | Change in Points | Change in % |
Shanghai Composite | 3,144.37 | 21.21 | 0.68 |
Hang Seng | 25,924.55 | 298.06 | 1.16 |
Jakarta Composite | 5,741.91 | 18.27 | 0.32 |
KLSE Composite | 1,788.90 | -2.41 | -0.13 |
Nikkei 225 | 20,067.75 | 124.49 | 0.62 |
Straits Times | 3,247.18 | 15.74 | 0.49 |
KOSPI Composite | 2,370.90 | 9.07 | 0.38 |
Taiwan Weighted | 10,250.60 | 93.87 | 0.92 |