SINGAPORE: Shares in Asia rose on Monday morning as the final trading week of 2020 began.
In Japan, the Nikkei 225 gained 0.32%, while the Topix index rose 0.27%. Kospi, South Korea, rose 0.86%.
MSCI’s broader Asia-Pacific stock index outside of Japan traded 0.18% higher.
Profits of Chinese industrial enterprises in November rose 15.5% compared to a year earlier, according to data released by the country’s National Statistics Office over the weekend.
Meanwhile, Alibaba shares in Hong Kong will be controlled by investors on Monday. This comes after Chinese regulators ordered Alibaba-affiliated Ant Group to rectify its business.
Markets in Australia and New Zealand close on Monday for holidays.
In the development of the coronavirus, the United States is facing an approaching government shutdown, as President Donald Trump refused to sign a $ 900 billion Covid-19 aid bill, approved by both chambers of Congress. Trump has criticized direct payments of the $ 600 bill to Americans and has demanded $ 2,000.
Coins and oils
The US dollar index, which tracks the greenback against a basket of its peers, stood at 90,199 after falling from levels above 90.4 in recent days.
The Japanese yen was trading at 103.54 per dollar after seeing levels below 103.4 against the green dollar last week. The Australian dollar changed hands at $ 0.7613 after recovering from a drop to levels below $ 0.75 last week.
Oil prices fell in the morning of business hours in Asia, with international benchmark futures on Brent crude up 0.8% to $ 50.88 a barrel. U.S. crude futures also fell 0.81% to $ 47.84 a barrel.