Asian markets settled mostly higher on Monday tracking Wall Street’s overnight gains last Friday after US Fed Chair Jerome Powell expressed confidence in continued economic growth in the United States and reiterated Fed's commitment to pull inflation back to the 2% target. Meanwhile investors were awaiting key US jobs and inflation readings due this week. Chinese shares gained after Chinese authorities announced a slew of measures including plans to halve the stamp duty on stock trading starting Monday, while China's securities regulator also approved the launch of 37 retail funds to help infuse new capital into the capital market and said it would slow the pace of initial public offerings. Moreover, Japanese shares gained on tracking persistent weakness of the yen, but tourism-related shares declined amid worries about the impact of a ban on the country’s seafood by China.
| Asian Indices | Last Trade | Change in Points | Change in % |
| Shanghai Composite | 3,098.64 | 34.57 | 1.12 |
| Hang Seng | 18,130.74 | 174.36 | 0.96 |
| Jakarta Composite | 6,921.73 | 26.29 | 0.38 |
| KLSE Composite | 1,444.06 | -0.35 | -0.02 |
| Nikkei 225 | 32,169.99 | 545.71 | 1.70 |
| Straits Times | 3,213.68 | 23.80 | 0.74 |
| KOSPI Composite | 2,543.41 | 24.27 | 0.95 |
| Taiwan Weighted | 16,509.26 | 27.68 | 0.17 |
