Asia-Pacific markets rose on Monday, after concerns over the valuation of artificial intelligence fueled a decline in markets across the region last week.
Investors in Asia are also analyzing October inflation data from China over the weekend, which came in above expectations.
Consumer price inflation was 0.2% on an annual basis, compared with expectations of zero growth among economists polled by Reuters. Wholesale inflation recorded a milder-than-expected decline of 2.1% year-on-year, compared to an expected decline of 2.2%.
South Korea’s Kospi climbed 3.48%, led by shares of banks and insurance companies, while the small-cap Kosdaq rose 1.29%. Heavyweights on the Kospi index such as Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix recorded gains of around 2.6% and 5.78%, respectively.
Among the other top gainers was SK Inc, the holding company of South Korea’s second largest chaebol – or family conglomerate – SK Group, which rose about 10%. GS Holdings, which deals in the energy, retail and construction sectors and is also one of the country’s largest chaebols, advanced more than 11%.
Japan’s Nikkei 225 advanced 1.31%, while the broad-based Topix gained 0.62%. Yields on 10-year Japanese government bonds rose to as much as 1.695%, which is the highest level since October, SEEbiz reports.
On Monday, the minutes of the Bank of Japan’s October meeting revealed that the Bank of Japan (BOJ) is more inclined to raise interest rates in the short term, saying that “the conditions for a further step towards interest rate normalization are likely to be almost met”.
However, the BOJ also said there are other factors to consider, such as the need to examine the extent to which the “core inflation rate is entrenched”.
Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index also joined the rally, rising 0.89%, but mainland China’s CSI 300 reversed the trend and lost 0.24%.
Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 gained 0.73%.
India’s Nifty 50 added 0.43%, while the Sensex index was 0.51% higher.
