CANBERA (dpa-AFX) - Asian markets ended on an upbeat note on Monday, with investors indulging in hectic buying amid rising optimism the upcoming fresh round of talks between the U.S. and China will help resolve trade disputes between the two countries.
A fairly strong U.S. jobs data and the Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell's remarks last week that the Fed would be patient and flexible in policy decisions too contributed to the gains in Asian markets.
In the Australian market, information technology, mining and energy shares rose sharply. Financial, industrials and consumer durables shares too ended mostly higher, while pharmaceuticals and telecom shares were a bit sluggish.
Australia's benchmark S&P/ASX 200 moved up 1.14%. The broader All Ordinaries index ended up 1.19%.
Emeco Holdings climbed up more than 10%. Syrah Resources jumped 9.8T% and Seven Group Holdings gained about 8.6%. Sandfire Resources and Western Areas gained 8.5% and 7.2%, respectively.
Shares of Healius Limited declined more than 6%. Norther Star and St Barbara both ended lower by about 3.2%, while Ardent Leisure Group and Evolution Mining lost 2% and 1.7%, respectively.
The Japanese benchmark Nikkei 225 ended up 2.44%, led by gains in real estate, machinery, metal, pulp & paper, automobile, glass & ceramics and precision instruments shares.
Shares from pharmaceuticals, finance, construction and transportation sectors too ended with impressive gains.
Toho Zinc, Takeda Pharmaceuticals, Dentsu Inc., Komatsu, Pacific Metals, JGC Corp., Mitsui Fudosan, Tokyo Electron, Dainippon Screen Manufacturing, SUMCO Corp. and Minebea Mitsum rose 6 to 8%.
Mitsubishi Motors, Kawasaki Kishen Kaisha, GS Yuasa, Rakuten Inc., Hitachi, Suzuki Motor, Hino Motors, Panasonic and Advantest Corp. were among the several other big gainers.
The Chinese market ended modestly higher. The Shanghai Composite Index added 0.72%. In Hong Kong, the Hang Seng gained nearly 1%.
South Korea's KOSPI ended stronger by 1.34%. New Zealand's NZX 50 rose 0.71% and Taiwan's Weighted index climbed up 2.21%, while Indonesia, Malaysia and Singapore were on course to end on a firm note.
The Indian market was moving up as well, with the Sensex and the Nifty50 gaining 0.8% and 0.72%, respectively.
In economic news from Asia-Pacific region, the latest survey from the Australia Industry Group revealed the manufacturing sector in Australia slipped into contraction in December, with the index dropping to a score of 49.5, from a reading of 51.3 a month earlier.
The services sector in Japan continued to expand in December, albeit at a slower pace, the latest survey from Nikkei revealed on Monday with a PMI score of 51.0. That's down from 52.3 in November, although it remains above the boom-of-bust line of 50 that separates expansion from contraction.
The Nikkei also said its composite index slipped to a reading of 52.0 in December, down from 52.4 in the previous month.
The Bank of Japan said that the monetary base in Japan was up just 4.8 percent on year in December, coming in at 504.2 trillion yen. That was well shy of forecasts for 5.8 percent and down sharply from 6.1 percent in November.
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