SINGAPORE – Asia-Pacific stocks were mixed in trading on Monday, with investors continuing to monitor the situation surrounding the coronavirus pandemic.
Kospi in South Korea led gains in the region’s major markets as it advanced 1.27%. In Japan, the Nikkei 225 rose 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: Shanghai composite was fractionally smaller, while Shenzhen’s component fell 0.293%.
Amid the pandemic, China has overtaken the United States as the world’s largest beneficiary of foreign direct investment, according to a report released Sunday at the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development.
China brought in $ 163 billion in revenue last year, compared to $ 134 billion attracted by the United States, according to the report.
Shares in Australia rose further, with the S & P / ASX 200 up 0.4%.
The largest MSCI Asia-Pacific stock index, excluding Japan, was traded 0.38% higher.
Developments around Covid-19 are likely to be followed by investors, as the world struggles to adapt against the mutant coronavirus, which has produced a number of potentially more infectious variants.
In Hong Kong, the government on Monday morning lifted the blockade 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 taken, according to data compiled by Johns Hopkins University.
Coins and oil
The US dollar index, which tracks the dollar against a basket of its colleagues, was at 90.24, after a recent decline from levels above 90.6.
The Japanese yen traded 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, in addition to levels above $ 0.766 seen last week.
Oil prices were lower in the morning trading hours in Asia, with international references to the gross future of Brent crude falling 0.23% to $ 55.28 a barrel. US crude futures fell 0.1% to $ 52.22 a barrel.
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