Recession, currency, oil, Russian debt
A man walks past the Tokyo Stock Exchange (TSE), operated by Japan Exchange Group Inc. (JPX), in Tokyo, Japan, on Monday, November 30, 2020.
Toru Hanai | Bloomberg via Getty Images
SINGAPORE – Shares in the Asia-Pacific traded higher on Monday as investors gauge inflation and recession fears.
Japanese Nikkei 225 was up nearly 1% in early-hour trading, while Topix was up 0.94%.
In Australia, S&P / ASX 200 increase 0.41%.
The Kospi in Korea was up 0.91% and Kosdaq was 1.28% higher.
MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares rose 0.28%.
Russia defaults on government debt in foreign currency for the first time in more than 100 years, Bloomberg reported. The country’s central bank’s foreign exchange reserves remain frozen.
In company news, Trip.com is expected to report its first-quarter financial results on Monday in the US after markets close.
Later this week, China and Japan will report Purchasing Managers’ Index data, while Hong Kong will celebrate the 25th anniversary of the handover. President of China Xi Jinping is expected to visit Hong Kong on this occasion, State media Xinhua reported over the weekend.
Currency and oil
The US Dollar Indextracks the greenback against its basket of currencies, at 103.980.
The Japanese yen was trading at 135.09 per dollar, and Australian dollar at $0.6951.
Oil futures prices fell in Asia in early trading on Monday. US crude oil down 1.25% to 106.27 USD/barrel, while international standard Brent Crude Oil fell 1.1% to $111.88 a barrel.