SINGAPORE — Stocks in Asia-Pacific rose in Monday trade, with shares in Japan and China leading gains regionally.
Japan’s Nikkei 225 surged 2.26% in afternoon trade while the Topix index jumped 2.09%. South Korea’s Kospi also advanced 0.98%.
Mainland Chinese stocks rose, with the Shanghai composite up 0.93% and the Shenzhen component climbing 2.386%. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index gained 0.68%.
The S&P/ASX 200 in Australia edged 0.67% higher.
MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan rose 0.72%.
In economic news, China’s central bank announced Friday a 50 basis points cut in its reserve requirement ratio for all banks, effective from July.
The RRR represents the amount of money that banks must hold in their coffers as a proportion of their total deposits. A lowering of that required amount will increase the supply of money that banks can lend to businesses and individuals.
The move was intended to demonstrate that the country has “a variety of policy tools to conduct monetary policy,” ANZ Research’s Raymond Yeung and Zhaopeng Xing wrote in a Friday note.
The RRR cut was “almost equivalent to a broad-based easing,” Yeung and Xing said, as it is set to release about 1 trillion Chinese yuan ($154 billion) in funds.
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The U.S. dollar index, which tracks the greenback against a basket of its peers, was at 92.191 after a recent slide from above 92.4.
The Japanese yen traded at 110.12 per dollar, weaker than levels seen below 110 against the greenback last week. The Australian dollar changed hands at $0.7468, still below levels above $0.755 seen last week.
Oil prices dipped in the afternoon of Asia trading hours, with international benchmark Brent crude futures sliding 0.2% to $75.40 per barrel. U.S. crude futures fell 0.16% to $74.44 per barrel.
— CNBC’s Yen Nee Lee contributed to this report.
Source: CNBC