Markets in Asia traded mostly up on Monday, ahead of a relatively data-light week in the region, shrugging off the failed military coup in Turkey
Markets in Japan were closed for the Marine Day public holiday.
In Hong Kong, the Hang Seng Index added 143.93 points, or 0.7%, to 21,803.18
In company news, Japan's internet and telecommunication giant SoftBank confirmed media reports that it agreed to acquire U.K. chip designer, Arm Holdings, for 23.4 billion pounds ($31 billion U.S.) in an all-cash deal. SoftBank will pay 17 pounds for each share in Arm, a 43% premium to its closing price last week.
SoftBank shares had closed up 0.2% at 6,007 yen on Friday and were not trading on Monday due to the public holiday in Japan.
Australian markets gathered strength, with most sectors finishing in the green. The materials sub-index, however, closed down 0.1%, with major miners falling behind. Shares of Rio Tinto closed down 0.8%, Fortescue fell 2.6% and BHP Billiton shed 0.7%.
In Singapore, non-oil domestic exports (NODX) fell 2.3% on-year in June, compared with an expected 3% drop in an economists’ poll. In May, overseas shipments from Singapore unexpectedly jumped 11.6% on-year, fueled by gold and pharmaceuticals sales
Singapore Exchange, which operates the country's stock market, said Monday it will create a separate subsidiary company, called RegCo, which would handle all of its regulatory functions. The new company, expected to be set up by the second half of 2017, will have its own board of directors, separate from that of the SGX. Shares of SGX rose 0.8%
Elsewhere, multiple wire reports said the Singapore government's investment arm, Temasek, is considering buying the remaining shares of Singapore subway operator, SMRT, that it doesn't already own. Temasek already owns a 54% stake in SMRT and by purchasing the rest of the shares, it has plans to de-list SMRT, Dow Jones Newswires reported, citing people familiar with the matter.
Among other major currency pairs, the Japanese yen traded at 105.83 against the U.S. dollar after climbing as high as 105.96 earlier, compared with levels near 100 two weeks ago.
The Australian dollar traded at $0.7602, climbing from an earlier low of $0.7572. The Aussie received a boost last week from better-than-expected Chinese data, as China is a major trading partner for Australia
In other markets
The Shanghai CSI 300 docked 14.26 points, or 0.4%, to 3,262.02
The Taiex Index in Taiwan strengthened 58.36 points, or 0.7%, to 9,008.21
In Singapore, the Straits Times Index gained 3.41 points, or 0.1%, to 2,928.76
In Korea, the Kospi added 3.85 points, or 0.2%, to 2,021.11
In New Zealand, the NZX 50 recovered 33.07 points, or 0.5%, to 7,105.95
The ASX 200 improved 28.9 points, or 0.5%, to 5,458.47
