Asian shares closed higher on Monday as investors anticipated clues on the direction of monetary policy from central banks later in the week.
Japanese markets were shuttered for holiday
The Hang Seng Index skyrocketed 352.18 points, or 1.3%, to 28,159.77
Korean markets progressed, with technology stocks driving broader gains on the index: Samsung Electronics closed up 4.1% and SK Hynix rose 3.2%. Automakers and manufacturing names finished the session mixed.
Australian markets also made progress, as the heavily-weighted financials sub-index was up 0.8% while the energy and consumer discretionary sub-indexes made moderate gains.
Over in Australia, ANZ said in a Monday statement that it would not be commenting on "media speculation" about its potential divestment of Wealth Australia. The bank added that the "process is ongoing." ANZ shares closed up 1%, with other Australia-listed banks also finishing the session higher: NAB was up 1.1% and Westpac advanced 0.7%.
The U.S. dollar firmed against the yen to trade at 111.32 — above the 110 handle seen for most of last week.
Meanwhile, investor desire for less risky assets faded relatively quickly following North Korea's missile launch on Friday local time, but developments on the Korean Peninsula are likely to continue attracting attention.
In economic news, Singapore non-oil domestic exports rose 17% in August compared to a year ago, firmly above the 11.8% forecast
CHINA
The CSI 300 gained 11.84 points, or 0.3%, to 3,843.14
Other notable data included the 0.2% rise in China average new home prices in August compared to a month ago. That was a deceleration compared to the 0.4% increase seen in July.
In corporate news, Ant Financial is taking its third shot at buying U.S. payments company MoneyGram International, according to Bloomberg. Ant Financial's attempt comes after the Trump administration recently blocked a China-backed firm's bid for Lattice Semiconductor.
In other markets
In Taiwan, the Taiex index added 51.16 points, or 0.5%, to 10,631.57
In Korea, the Kospi index picked up 32.41 points, or 1.4%, to 2,418.21
In Singapore, the Straits Times Index rose 32.29 points, or 1%, to 3,241.85
In New Zealand, the NZX 50 dropped 3.95 points, or 0.1%, to 7,758.71
In Australia, the ASX 200 regained 25.58 points, or 0.5% to 5,720.60
