SINGAPORE – Shares in Asia-Pacific were mixed in trading on Monday as investors continue to monitor the situation around the coronavirus pandemic.
Kospi, South Korea, led gains among the region’s major markets as it advanced 1.27%. In Japan, the Nikkei 225 gained 0.4% more, while the Topix index gained 0.15%.
Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index gained about 1%. Shares in mainland China, on the other hand, fell: the Shanghai compound was fractionally lower while the Shenzhen component fell 0.293%.
Amid the pandemic, China surpassed the United States as the world’s largest recipient of foreign direct investment, according to a report released Sunday by the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development.
Last year, China grossed $ 163 billion, compared to the $ 134 billion that attracted the U.S., according to the report.
Shares in Australia rose, with the S & P / ASX 200 up 0.4%.
MSCI’s broader Asia-Pacific stock index, excluding Japan, traded 0.38% higher.
Developers around Covid-19 are likely to be noticed by investors as the world rushes to adapt to the mutant coronavirus that has produced a number of potentially more infectious variants.
In Hong Kong, the government early Monday lifted a closure in an area of Kowloon district after about 7,000 people were tested for coronavirus, according to Reuters.
Globally, more than 99 million people have been infected with Covid-19 and at least 2,127,206 lives have been killed, according to data collected by Johns Hopkins University.
Coins and oils
The US dollar index, which tracks the greenback against a basket of its peers, stood at 90.24 after seeing a recent decline in levels above 90.6.
The Japanese yen was trading at 103.86 per dollar after levels below 103.5 against the green dollar seen last week. The Australian dollar changed hands at $ 0.771, up from $ 0.766 seen last week.
Oil prices were lower in the morning during business hours in Asia, with an international benchmark future on Brent crude falling 0.23% to $ 55.28 per barrel. U.S. crude futures fell 0.1% to $ 52.22 a barrel.
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