Stocks in China jumped on Monday as investors watched for developments from U.S. President Donald Trump’s state visit to Japan as well as results from the European parliamentary election.
In Japan, the Nikkei 225 regained 65.36 points, or 0.3%, to 21,182.58, with shares of index heavyweight Fast Retailing advancing 1.3%.
The Japanese yen traded at 109.50 against the U.S. dollar after touching levels above 110.4 in the previous trading week.
In Hong Kong, the Hang Seng handed back 65.84 points, or 0.2%, to 27,288.09
Meanwhile, U.S. President Trump is on a state visit to Japan, where he earlier said Tokyo has "had a substantial advantage" over Washington for "many, many years."
The president said Tokyo and Washington were "getting close" to a deal that would address the U.S. trade deficit. The U.S. had a deficit of $56.8 billion in goods and services with Japan in 2018, according to the U.S. Trade Representative. Trump’s visit comes amid U.S. threats of potential auto tariffs against Japanese and European carmakers.
The Australian dollar changed hands at $0.6929 after seeing lows below $0.688 last week.
In Europe, early results showed greater fragmentation in the European Parliament over the next five years. This year’s vote was particularly relevant due to the surge of anti-E.U. and nationalist parties across the region. Pro-E.U. parties will hold onto two-thirds of the seats at the E.U. Parliament, but their nationalist opponents have also produced solid results.
Britain’s newly-formed Brexit Party comfortably beat the country’s two main parties in the European parliamentary elections, according to early results.
In other markets
In Shanghai, the CSI 300 index climbed 43.29 points, or 1.2%, to 3,637.20
In Korea, the Kospi index slid 1.1 points to 2,044.21
In Singapore, the Straits Times Index nicked higher 0.88 points to 3,170.77
In Taiwan, the Taiex Index edged higher 5.85 points to 0.1%, to 10,334.13
In New Zealand, the NZX 50 ditched 74.64 points, or 0.7%, to 10,147.72
In Australia, the ASK 200 subtracted 4.15 points, or 0.1%, to 6,451.90
