Asia report: Markets mostly higher as China remains closed
19-02-2018 13:20
Markets in Asia were mostly higher in a quiet session on Monday, with Greater China bourses still on holiday for the Lunar New Year.
The Nikkei 225 was ahead 1.97% at 22,149.21, as the yen weakened 0.33% against the dollar to last trade at JPY 106.56, having enjoyed a strong weekend.
Many of the major exporters were up in Tokyo, with Honda adding 2.04%, Sony ahead 0.78% and Toyota 2.37% higher.
South Korea's Kospi was up 0.87% at 2,442.82
Oil prices were higher, with Brent crude last up 0.34% at $65.06 per barrel and West Texas Intermediate advancing 0.7% to $61.98.
In Australia, the S&P/ASX 200 was up 0.64% at 5,941.60, with the hefty financials subindex adding 0.56% and the materials sector eking out gains of 0.23%.
The energy sector lost 1.26%, however, dragged under by Woodside Petroleum, which lost 6.85% after it announced the completion of the institutional part of its AUD 2.5bn share sale.
The company raised gross proceeds of AUD 1.57bn, at a price of AUD 27 per new share.
Its peers Beach Energy, Oil Search and Santos were all higher, rising 7.11%, 2.02% and 2.58% respectively.
Across the Tasman Sea, New Zealand's S&P/NZX 50 fell 0.1% to 8,115.25 ahead of a busy earnings season later in the week.
It was led lower by subscription broadcaster Sky - no relation to its London-listed namesake - which was off 2.5%, while energy generation and retail giant Mercury fell 2%.
The down under dollars were mixed, with the Aussie last 0.11% stronger against the greenback at AUD 1.2632 and the Kiwi retreating 0.18% to NZD 1.3554.
