Asian shares closed mostly higher on Monday following the landslide victory of Emmanuel Macron in the French polls on Sunday, with the Nikkei 225 share average hitting its highest level since December 2015.
Japanese markets returned from several days’ holidays with a bang, the Nikkei roaring ahead 450 points, or 2.3%, Monday to close at 19,895.70
Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index regained 101.56 points, or 0.4%, to 24,577.91
Macron defeated far-right candidate Marine Le Pen in the French presidential election, with the French interior ministry stating that the former had secured 65.1% of the vote. Macron, who is 39 years old, will become France's youngest president.
The U.S. dollar earlier fetched a seven-week high against the yen but later stabilized to trade at 112.71.
The risk-sensitive Australian dollar continued its slide against the dollar, trading lower at $0.7409 U.S. following the release of trade data from China
Also in Australia, stocks of Fairfax Media rose 2.4% to close at A$1.085 a stock after TPG Capital, a private equity company, made an offer to acquire the media company's newspapers and online real estate business. Other media companies also saw their shares rise; Nine Entertainment gained 5.3% and Ten Network surged 19.3%.
CHINA
Shanghai’s CSI 300 dipped 23.74 points, or 0.7%, to 3,358.81
In economic news, April trade data from China reflected that exports grew 8% while imports rose 11.9% on year in dollar terms. Both figures failed to meet analyst expectations.
In other markets
In Taiwan, the Taiex Index gained 37.31 points, or 0.4%, to 9,937.25
In Singapore, the Straits Times Index gathered 7.25 points, or 0.2%, to 3,236.98
In New Zealand, the NZX 50 added 60.96 points, or 0.8%, to 7,426.46
In Australia, the ASX 200 hiked 34.34 points, or 0.6%, to 5,870.89
