SINGAPORE – Asia Pacific stocks rose on Monday, and several markets in North Asia were closed for the New Year holidays.
In Japan, the Nikkei 225 rose 1.5% while the Topix index rose 0.95%. At the start of the session, the Nikkei rose above the 30,000 level for the first time in more than 30 years, according to Refinitiv.
Government data released on Monday showed that Japan’s economy grew 12.7% on an annualized basis between October and December last year. According to Reuters, the preliminary value for the gross domestic product for the fourth quarter was above the economists’ average estimate of 9.5%.
South Korean Kospi also posted strong gains as it rose 1.5%. Australian stocks rose, with the S & P / ASX 200 rising roughly 1%.
MSCI’s broadest index for stocks in the Asia-Pacific region outside of Japan rose 0.6%.
The markets in China, Hong Kong, Taiwan and the USA are closed on Mondays for public holidays.
Oil prices jump
Oil prices were higher in the afternoon of Asian trading hours, and the international benchmark’s Brent crude oil futures rose 1.79% to $ 63.55 a barrel. US crude oil futures rose 2.25% to $ 60.81 a barrel.
The US dollar index, which tracks the greenback against a basket of its peers, stood at 90.319 after weakening against the 91.2 handle earlier this month.
The Japanese yen was trading at 105.09 per dollar, weaker than below 104.8 versus the greenback last week. The Australian dollar was trading at $ 0.7784 after rising below $ 0.772 last week.
