Asian markets ended higher on Monday, tracking last week’s rally in Wall Street after US government report showed an unexpected jump in employment in the month of May, fuelling optimism about a quick economic recovery. The US economy added 2.5 million jobs last month, pushing the unemployment rate down to 13.3 percent from 14.7 percent in April. Chinese shares ended with modest gains on hopes of further stimulus after the release of weak trade data, with China’s exports in May fell 3.3 percent compared to a year earlier to $206.8 billion and imports dropped 16.7 percent to $143.9 billion. Further, Japanese shares ended up as the safe haven yen weakened against greenback and other major currencies boosted export-oriented stocks. Investors also cheered an upward revision of Japan's gross domestic product in the first quarter, although the economy was still mired deep in recession. Meanwhile, markets in Malaysia were closed for a holiday.
Asian Indices | Last Trade | Change in Points | Change in % |
Shanghai Composite | 2,937.77 | 6.97 | 0.24 |
Hang Seng | 24,776.77 | 6.36 | 0.03 |
Jakarta Composite | 5,070.56 | 122.78 | 2.48 |
KLSE Composite | - | - | - |
Nikkei 225 | 23,178.10 | 314.37 | 1.37 |
Straits Times | 2,796.97 | 45.47 | 1.65 |
KOSPI Composite | 2,184.29 | 2.42 | 0.11 |
Taiwan Weighted | 11,610.32 | 130.92 | 1.14 |
