Chinese stocks gained for the first time Monday in 10 trading sessions, indicating improving confidence among investors concerned that a spike in interbank lending rates last week could gum up the country’s financial system.
Markets in Japan had the day off for the Emperor’s birthday holiday.
The yen was slightly stronger against the U.S. dollar, with one dollar buying ¥103.97 compared with ¥104.09 late Friday in New York.
Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index regained 109.38 points, or 0.5%, to 22,921.56, helped by China Mobile which traded 0.8% higher after
Apple said it plans to start offering the iPhone on China Mobile’s network from Jan. 17.
China Everbright Bank , which on Friday raised $3 billion U.S. in Hong Kong’s biggest initial public offering this year, fell 0.5%, extending its lackluster performance in its debut on Friday. Investors have remained cautious over the level of bad debt at Chinese banks, particularly when interbank lending rates are high.
In South Korea, shares of Hyundai Securities jumped 5.7% after parent Hyundai Group said Sunday that it will sell its financial businesses, including its securities division, to reduce debt and focus on other business areas, such as shipping. The company said the restructure would raise up to 3.3 trillion won ($3.1 billion U.S.).
CHINA
Shanghai’s CSI 300 index gained 6.46 points, or 0.3%, to 2,284.60, as investors started to come to terms with stubbornly high interest rates that banks charge each other for short-term loans.
Interbank rates fell as low as 5.57% early Monday, but hit 9.8% later in the day. The credit squeeze is happening despite a cash injection from the central bank last week of $49.4 billion U.S. and has raised concerns that China could be headed into another cash crunch of the kind that shook investors over the summer.
In other markets;
Korea’s Kospi Index gained 13.54 points, or 0.7%, to 1,996.98
Taiwan’s Taiex Index zoomed 47.93 points, or 0.6%, to 8,456.46
The Singapore Straits Times Index added 21.74 points, or 0.7%, to 3,116.22
In New Zealand, the NZX 50 picked up 41.45 points, or 0.9%, to 4,722.64
In Australia, the S&P/ASX 200 took on 26.73 points, or 0.5%, to 5,291.95
