Asian markets traded mostly higher in early deals on Monday, as a cooler-than-expected US jobs report eased investor fears regarding further aggressive interest rate hikes by the Federal Reserve. Investor sentiments stabilized after Brent crude slipped to around $101 per barrel, providing local relief to major energy-importing nations ahead of the Reserve Bank of India's (RBI) policy meeting. Japanese tech and semiconductor shares surged up to 2.5% on the Nikkei 225 following reports of a major potential collaboration between TSMC and Elon Musk's Terafab. Stock markets of China and South Korea are closed for National Day and National Foundation Day of Korea, respectively.
Nikkei 225 surged by 1,560.54 points or 2.28% to 69,870.00, Straits Times up by 9.02 points or 0.16% to 5,643.84, Taiwan Weighted soared by 1,247.77 points or 2.57% to 49,723.51, Jakarta Composite rose by 9.70 points or 0.16% to 6,046.59, and FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI index added 2.02 points or 0.12% to 1,632.89.
On the flipside, Hang Seng dipped by 44.29 points or 0.18% to 23,928.00.
