Stocks in Asia-Pacific were mixed in Monday trade, as investors in the region react to the approval of Pfizer’s COVID-19 vaccine.
In Japan, the Nikkei 225 gained 79.02 points, or 0.3%, to 26,732.44.
The Japanese yen traded at 103.81 per U.S. dollar following a strengthening last week form levels above 104.4 against the greenback.
The Bank of Japan’s quarterly tankan survey showed on Monday business sentiment in Japan improving in the three months to December. The headline index for big manufacturers’ sentiment improved to minus 10 as compared with minus 27 in September. A median market forecast had expected the figure to come in at minus 15.
In Hong Kong, the Hang Seng index lost 116.35 points, or 0.4%, to 26,389.52.
Hong Kong-listed shares of Alibaba and Tencent dropped on Monday, Alibaba declining 2.6% and Tencent losing 2.9%.
Alibaba Group and Tencent Holdings-backed China Literature were among firms set to be fined 500,000 yuan each ($76,467) by China’s market regulator for failing to report deals properly for anti-trust reviews, according to a Monday announcement. China Literature’s stocks in Hong Kong fell 4.12% on Monday.
Singapore’s Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong announced Monday that the country’s Health Sciences Authority had approved Pfizer-BioNTech’s COVID-19 vaccine, with the first shipment set to arrive by the end of this month. Other vaccines are also expected to arrive in the country "in the coming months," he said.
The number of COVID-19 cases in the city-state has remained low for the past several weeks, with zero or one new case reported in its daily statistics.
Korean markets faltered. South Korea has been dealing with a recent resurgence in coronavirus infections, with the country reporting its largest daily caseload ever on Sunday, according to local news agency Yonhap.
The Australian dollar changed hands at $0.756, having risen from levels below $0.749 last week.
In other markets
In Shanghai, the CSI 300 gained 45.21 points, or 0.9%, to 4,934.84.
In Korea, the Kospi index ditched 7.86 points, or 0.3%, to 2,762.20
In Taiwan, the Taiex Index dumped 50.64 points, or 0.4%, to 14,211.05.
In Singapore, the Straits Times Index regained 36.44 points, or 1.3%, to 2,858.14.
In New Zealand, the NZX 50 stumbled 84.13 points, or 0.7%, to 12,835.12.
In Australia, the ASX 200 recovered 17.67 points, or 0.3%, to 6,660.25.
