SINGAPORE — Shares in major Asia-Pacific markets were mostly higher in Monday trade as investors continue to watch the Covid situation in India.
In morning trade, the Nifty 50 in India jumped about 1.2% while the BSE Sensex advanced 1.32%.
The Covid situation in India remains severe as the country continues to battle a startling rise in new coronavirus infections. On Sunday, nearly 350,000 new daily infections were registered.
The Biden administration has said it will immediately make raw materials needed for India’s coronavirus vaccine production available. The U.S. response comes after Britain, France and Germany also pledged aid to India over the weekend.
Asia-Pacific markets rise
Elsewhere regionally, the Nikkei 225 in Japan gained 0.65% while the Topix index rose 0.38%. South Korea’s Kospi advanced 0.76%.
Mainland Chinese stocks also rose, with the Shanghai composite up 0.19% and the Shenzhen component gaining 0.548%. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index rose about 0.1%.
Over in Australia, the S&P/ASX 200 was largely unchanged.
MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan gained 0.66%.
Currencies and oil
The U.S. dollar index, which tracks the greenback against a basket of its peers, was at 90.704 following a recent drop from above 91.2.
The Japanese yen traded at 107.68 per dollar, weaker than levels around 107.5 against the greenback seen late last week. The Australian dollar changed hands at $0.7772, against an earlier low of $0.7732.
Oil prices were lower in the afternoon of Asia trading hours, with international benchmark Brent crude futures down 0.38% to $65.86 per barrel. U.S. crude futures slipped 0.31% to $61.95 per barrel.
— CNBC’s Amanda Macias contributed to this report.
Source: CNBC