SINGAPORE — Stock in Asia-Pacific stocks were mixed, with South Korean stocks rising again on the back of big gains last week.
South Korea’s Kospi, which had a stellar start to 2021 as it jumped nearly 10% in the first trading week of the year, rose 0.73%.
Shares in South Korea’s auto sector rose again on Monday following a local media report that Hyundai Motor and Apple are set to sign a partnership deal on autonomous electric cars, according to Reuters.
Hyundai Motor shares soared 10.57% while Hyundai Mobis gained 1.67%. Kia Motors also jumped more than 3%. Shares of Hyundai Motor popped more than 19% on Friday following an initial report surrounding the Apple deal.
Mainland Chinese stocks also advanced: The Shanghai composite gained 0.37% while the Shenzhen component rose 0.508%.
China’s producer price index fell 0.4% in December as compared to a year earlier, according to the country’s Bureau of Statistics. That was a smaller decline than the 0.8% fall expected in a median forecast of a Reuters poll. Meanwhile, China’s consumer price index rose 0.2% year-on-year in December, against expectations of a 0.1% increase in a Reuters poll.
Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index advanced 0.67%. Elsewhere, the S&P/ASX 200 in Australia declined 0.75%.
MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan traded 0.12% higher.
Markets in Japan are closed on Monday for a holiday.
Delisting fears
Currencies and oil
The U.S. dollar index, which tracks the greenback against a basket of its peers, was at 90.388 after a recent rise from levels below 89.4.
The Japanese yen traded at 104.11 per dollar after weakening last week from levels below 103 against the greenback. The Australian dollar was at $0.7712 following levels above $0.78 seen last week.
Oil prices were lower in the morning of Asia trading hours, with international benchmark Brent crude futures down 0.63% to $55.64 per barrel. U.S. crude futures dipped 0.21% to $52.13 per barrel.
Source: CNBC