Stocks in Asia-Pacific were mostly higher on Monday, as investors monitored shares of China’s tech giants following the release of new anti-monopoly guidelines over the weekend.
The Nikkei 225 shot higher 609.31 points, or 2.1%, to close Monday at 29,388.50.
The Japanese yen traded at 105.49 per dollar, having weakened last week from levels below 104.8 against the greenback.
The Hang Seng index in Hong Kong fought to gain 30.79 points, or 0.1%, higher to 29,319.47.
By the Monday market close in Hong Kong, shares of Chinese tech giants listed in the city were mixed. Tencent was higher by 0.5%, while Meituan gained 1.3%. Meanwhile, JD.com declined 0.6% and Alibaba dipped 0.6%.
The Australian dollar changed hands at $0.7675 following a spike last week from levels below 0.762.
CHINA
In Shanghai, the CSI 300 gained 81.15 points, or 1.5%, to 5,564.56.
Chinese tech shares were mixed as concerns that Beijing was tightening restrictions on the country’s tech giants weighed.
China’s State Administration for Market Regulation released a new set of rules that will likely put pressure on leading internet services in the country such as Alibaba’s Taobao or Tencent’s WeChat Pay. Separately, regulators on Monday slapped a three-million-yuan (nearly $500,000 U.S.) fine on Vipshop — an online discount retailer — over anti-competitive acts.
It came after the two firms announced they were “not in talks with Apple on autonomous vehicle development,” according to some translations of their regulatory filings.
In geopolitical developments, U.S. President Joe Biden said his administration was prepared for “extreme competition” with China, though his approach would be different than his predecessor.
In other markets
Markets in Taiwan and New Zealand were shuttered for holiday.
In Korea, the Kospi Index gave back 29.39 points, or 0.9%, to 3,091.24
In Singapore, the Straits Times eked higher 24.29 points, or 0.8%, to 2,931.40
In Australia, the ASX 200 added 40.15 points, or 0.6%, to 6,880.68.
