SINGAPORE — Shares in Asia-Pacific rose in Monday morning trade, as investors reacted to the release of China’s latest benchmark lending rate. Oil prices also jumped around 3%.
Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index led gains regionally on Monday, climbed 1.18% in early trade. The city’s benchmark finished more than 4% higher last week following a volatile week which swung between big gains and losses.
Trading in the Hong Kong-listed shares of China Evergrande and its property services and new energy vehicle unit was halted on Monday, according to exchange notices. No immediate reason was given for the trading halts.
Mainland Chinese stocks were also higher, with the Shanghai composite up fractionally and the Shenzhen component advancing 0.363%.
China’s one-year loan prime rate was kept unchanged at 3.7% on Monday, largely in line with expectations from a Reuters survey.
The S&P/ASX 200 gained 0.28% in Australia, with South Korea’s Kospi shed 0.18%.
MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan traded 0.43% higher.
Oil prices were higher in the morning of Asia trading hours, with international benchmark Brent crude futures up 3.07% to $111.24 per barrel. U.S. crude futures climbed 3.12% to $107.97 per barrel.
Markets in Japan are closed on Monday for a holiday.
Currencies
The U.S. dollar index, which tracks the greenback against a basket of its peers, was at 98.303 — off levels above 98.5 seen recently.
The Japanese yen traded at 119.25 per dollar following its weakening last week from levels below 118.2 against the greenback. The Australian dollar changed hands at $0.7409, as compared with levels below $0.721 seen last week.