Asian markets traded higher on Monday, after the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) again cleared U.S. presidential candidate Hillary Clinton of potential criminal charges in its private email server probe.
The Nikkei 225 in Japan regained 271.85 points, or 1.6% at 17,177.21, after the U.S. dollar/yen strengthened to 104.43 as of late afternoon, compared to levels around 103 last week.
The Hang Seng Index in Hong Kong regained 158.78 points, or 0.7%, to 22,801.40, apparently unfazed by unrest over China's intervention in a closely watched legal case around two pro-independence lawmakers.
Suzuki Motor jumped 7.2% to 3,831 yen, after it raised its profit outlook by 2.4% to 200 billion yen ($1.92 billion U.S.), compared to a 7.8% decline in profit in the same period last year. The Japanese automaker said the profit guidance upgrade was due to better-than-expected sales in Indian and European markets.
Meanwhile, the Bank of Japan's released the minutes of its September meeting, which showed that one board member had said the central bank should be ready to fully mobilize all policy measures to achieve its 2% inflation target, while others shared the view that inflation pressures would take time to ease
The Hong Kong-listed HSBC saw shares jump 1.7% to HK$58.40 each. The British lender reported an 86% decline to $843 million U.S. in pretax profit for the third-quarter, after it booked a $1.7-billion U.S. loss from the sale of its Brazilian unit and was reportedly hit by FX volatility.
Australian markets were buoyed by strength across all sub-indexes except gold, which shed 3.1%
Westpac was up 2.7% at $30.50 U.S. a share. The Australian bank announced its full-year results, showing the lowest return-on-equity since 2009 due to higher capital requirements and low interest rates. Westpac also said it would abandon its ROE target of 15% with CEO Brian Hartzer saying a longer-term ROE target of 13% to 14% would be more realistic.
Fortescue Metals Group jumped 3.4% after Chinese iron futures climbed to their strongest level in more than two years on Friday,
CHINA
The CSI 300 in Shanghai eked up 2.42 points, or 0.1%, to 3,356.59
China's Leshi Internet Information and Technology, better known as LeEco, the entertainment-to-vehicles company, was down 4.3% at 38 yuan per share, after shedding as much as 6.7% on rising investor concerns over its rapid expansion.
Also on Monday, China will reveal its foreign currency reserves for October.
In other markets
In Korea, the Kospi closed up 15.56 points, or 0.8%, at 1,997.58
The Straits Times Index in Singapore recovered 12.15 points, or 0.4%, to 2,800.95
In Taiwan, the Taiex Index zoomed 121.69 points, or 1.3%, to 9,189.84
In New Zealand, the NZX 50 spiked 163.8 points, or 2.4%, to 6,872.27
Australia's benchmark ASX 200 picked up 69.98 points, or 1.4%, at 5,250.80
