TOKYO: Stocks in Asia rose in early Monday trading marking the start of a busy week that includes a summit between the leaders of the U.S. and China, U.S. wage data and minutes from the U.S. Federal Reserve’s March meeting. Shares in Chinese companies listed in Hong Kong led the way with a 0.7% gain, while Japan’s Nikkei 225 benchmark was up 0.4%. South Korea’s Kospi index was up 0.3%, while Australian stocks were largely flat. Markets in Taiwan and Mainland China are shut today for a public holiday. Data this morning from Japan’s Tankan survey, which measures short-term economic activity, showed a quarter-on-quarter improvement for large manufacturers, but still came in below expectations. However, survey data from large, non-manufacturing and small manufacturing enterprises beat expectations. “The point here remains that Japanese enterprises are generally optimistic in their outlook,” says IG Group market analyst Jingyi Pan.
Data from China’s Caixin purchasing managers’ index for March indicated further rises but missed expectations, suggesting a recent pick-up in manufacturing in the world’s second biggest economy could be running out of steam. However, “these remain early days to call it so,” says IG Group’s Pan. Elsewhere, later today Indonesia and Thailand will publish their inflation data for March. In the U.S. investors will be closely watching data on non-farms payrolls released Wednesday, minutes from the central bank’s March meeting on Thursday, and a hotly-anticipated summit between Donald Trump and Xi Jinping on Thursday and Friday.
