Asian markets settled mostly higher on Monday following sharply gains in Wall Street stock last week, and weaker than expected US consumer spending and labour cost data helped ease inflation fears. Meanwhile investors ignored data showing a slower pace of China's manufacturing sector in January as a resurgence of Covid-19 cases and tough lockdowns hit production and demand. Chinese, Taiwan and South Korean markets were closed for the Lunar New Year holiday. Hong Kong shares ended higher with technology stocks leading gains, while Hong Kong markets will be closed from February 1st to February 3rd due to Chinese New Year holiday. Japanese shares gained after Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida said he is not yet considering declaring a state of emergency for Tokyo over a recent spike in cases of the Omicron variant. However, data showed Japan's factory output shrank for the first time in three months in December, while retail sales posted their third straight month of year-on-year gains in December.
Indices | Last Trade | Change in Points | Change in % |
Shanghai Composite | -- | -- | -- |
Hang Seng | 23,802.26 | 252.18 | 1.07 |
Jakarta Composite | 6,631.15 | -14.36 | -0.22 |
KLSE Composite | 1,512.27 | -7.75 | -0.51 |
Nikkei 225 | 27,001.98 | 284.64 | 1.07 |
Straits Times | 3,249.59 | 3.26 | 0.10 |
KOSPI Composite | -- | -- | -- |
Taiwan Weighted | -- | -- | -- |
