Asian Market Review - First Place Finance - Shenzhen composite is jumping higher

Asian markets have turned broadly higher Monday morning as investor sentiment has improved in response to U.S. Treasury yields turning higher to start the week.

Japan’s Nikkei is 0.7% higher as it approaches the lunch break. The gains come despite a slightly stronger Yen, and are being helped by an 8.5% gain for shares of convenience store operator Food Mart. Shares of Softbank are also trading higher by 1.5% and Sony is up by 0.8%.

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On mainland China the Shanghai Composite has opened to a gain of 0.4%, while the smaller cap Shenzhen Composite has jumped 1.1% higher. China’s central bank over the weekend said it is improving the mechanism used to set the prime lending rate, which is expected to help lower real lending rates. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng is also trading 1% higher despite hundreds of thousands of protesters taking to the streets on Sunday amid increased threats from Beijing.

Shenzhen composite

In Australia the S&P/ASX 200 has added 0.8% heading into the final hours of trade. The big four banks are broadly higher, making gains in the range of 0.6% to 1.2%. Major miners BHP and Rio Tinto are 0.6% and 0.7% higher respectively, while Fortescue Metals has a 1.6% gain. Energy majors are also gaining, with Oil Search advancing 1.7% and Woodside Petroleum up 1.2%.

In South Korea the Kospi is trading up by 0.4%, while Taiwan’s Taiex is edging up by 0.3%.

In Southeast Asia markets are mixed, with the Straits Times Index in Singapore gaining 0.4%, while Malaysia’s KLCI is down by 0.2%.