After a soft opening, Asian equities broadly turned higher Monday as the market looked to rebound from Friday’s weakness, although investors remained wary of lingering U.S.-China trade tensions and shaky oil prices.
Japan’s Nikkei NIK, +0.16% made up early losses of almost 1% and was last up about 0.2%. Major exporters lost ground behind a weaker yen. Sony 6758, -2.00% fell 2.3% while Honda 7267, -0.12% and Nintendo 7974, +0.08% slipped slightly. Robotics maker Fanuc 6954, +2.35% jumped 2.3%.
Hong Kong stocks started slightly higher after Friday’s region-leading declines. The Hang HSI, +0.51% was up 0.3% following last week’s 3.3% skid, including 2.4% on Friday. HSBC 0005, +1.31% gained 1% and China Mobile 0941, +1.85% climbed 1.5%. Chinese oil majors also rose as crude prices have bounced this morning. But Tencent 0700, -1.86% dropped 2% and AAC 2018, -1.28% fell 1.4% after skidding 18% last week to 2½-year lows.
Smaller Chinese stocks were again outpacing their larger peer, continuing a trading pattern seen last week. The Shenzhen Composite 399106, +1.57% rose 1.1% while the Shanghai Composite SHCOMP, +0.67% was up 0.5%. Oil companies were faring well amid a 1% gain in crude prices CLZ8, +0.98% .
South Korea’s Kospi SEU, -0.17% dropped 0.3%, while benchmarks in Taiwan Y9999, +0.37% and Singapore STI, -0.30% were mixed. Australia’s ASX 200 XJO, +0.09% was about flat as bank shares tumbled, and New Zealand stocks NZ50GR, +0.06% were down fractionally.
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