Asian markets traded mixed on Monday as U.S. dollar strength took a break from its upward ways and oil prices surged.
The Nikkei 225 in Japan climbed 138.61 points, or 0.8%, to 18,106.92, as the yen declines stalled against the greenback
The Hang Seng Index in Hong Kong inched up 13.57 points, or 0.1%, to 22,357.78
The yen was wavering against the U.S. dollar near 111 levels, trading at 110.89 as of late afternoon.
Sanjiang Shopping Club saw its shares surge 9.99% to 13.98 yuan, after hitting the maximum allowed move of 10% after Alibaba Group announced it would invest 2.1 billion yuan ($304.91 million U.S.) in the supermarket chain.
Australian markets declined, but losses were offset by strengths in its energy sub-index, which was up 1.7%, and its all ordinaries gold sub-index, which was up 2%
South Korea's benchmark Kospi finished down after prosecutors said on Sunday that they believed President Park Geun-hye was an accomplice in a corruption scandal. This will likely spur more public protests for President Park to step down or be impeached
In economic news, Japan October trade data was released early Monday morning, showing that exports fell for the 13th straight month amid weak foreign demand, while imports fell 16.5%, compared with the Reuters consensus estimate for a 16.3% decline.
South Korea announced preliminary estimates for trade in November, showing exports in the first 20 days of November fell 0.2% on-year in dollar terms, while imports fell 3.1%.
On the corporate news front, Fullerton Health announced it would defer its plans for an initial public offering (IPO) this year. The Singapore health-care provider said this was because of the current market uncertainty.
CHINA
The CSI 300 in Shanghai recovered 23.66 points, or 0.7%, to 3,441.11
The People's Bank of China set Monday's yuan mid-point fix at 6.8985 yuan per dollar, compared with the last close at 6.888. The dollar/yuan was trading at 6.895 as of late afternoon local time. That was its weakest since weakest since at least January 2009, during the global financial crisis
In other markets
In Korea, the Kospi dropped 8.53 points, or 0.4%, at 1,966.05
The Straits Times Index in Singapore lost 21.98 points, or 0.8%, to 2,816.67
In Taiwan, the Taiex Index added 32.32 points, or 0.4%, to 9,041.11
In New Zealand, the NZX 50 returned from a long weekend to ditch 8.89 points, or 0.1%, to 6,848.95
Australia's benchmark ASX 200 decreased 8.08 points, or 0.2%, at 5,351.34
