Aerial view of Seoul downtown city skyline with vehicle on expressway and bridge cross over Han river in Seoul city, South Korea.
Mongkol Chuewong | Moment | Getty Images
Asia-Pacific markets mostly rose Monday as investors parsed details on trade negotiations and a slew of data points, including South Korea and Japan’s industrial output figures for May and China’s purchasing managers’ index readings for June.
China’s manufacturing activity contracted for the third consecutive month in June, fueling hopes for more stimulus to cushion the impact of ongoing trade disruptions between the superpower and the U.S.
Mainland China’s CSI 300 index rose 0.17%, while Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index lost 0.51%.
Japanese stocks extended their gains from the previous session, with the benchmark Nikkei 225 hitting a six-month high. The 225-share average climbed 1.53%, while the broader Topix index advanced 0.86%.
In South Korea, the Kospi index added 0.87%, while the small-cap Kosdaq ticked up 0.67% in choppy trade.
Over in Australia, the S&P/ASX 200 increased by 0.2%.
U.S. equity futures rose in early Asia hours before the year stretches into the second half.
All three key benchmarks on Wall Street rose sharply in last Friday’s session. The broad-based S&P 500 hit a new record in more than four months after ending the session about 0.5% higher at 6,173.07 — overtaking its previous record of 6,147.43.
The Nasdaq Composite also reached an all-time high, closing at a record after adding about 0.5%, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose nearly 1%.
The three benchmarks have staged a sharp recovery this month from the lows seen in April during the height of trade policy tensions. The whipsaw of global trade negotiations can quickly sway market sentiment and pose an ongoing threat to the strength of this rally.
— CNBC’s Pia Singh contributed to this report.
