International
Earnings Season, Tehran Proposal Lift Asian Stock Markets
Asian stock markets largely gained ground Monday on strength in tech issues, and on media reports that Tehran has floated a proposal to reopen the Strait of Hormuz. A generally good industrial profits report from Beijing also boosted sentiments.Shanghai and Tokyo finished in the green, while Hong Kong edged lower. Other regional exchanges mostly finished higher.In Japan, the Nikkei 225 opened evenly but rose to the close, gaining 1.4% to strike a fresh all-time high. Strong earnings results offset a risk-off mood.The benchmark Nikkei 225 index rose 821.18 to 60,537.36, the first-ever close above the 60,000-milestone, although losing issues outnumbered gainers 129 to 94.Leading the upside was industrial robot maker Fanuc, up 16%, while Chugai Pharmaceutical declined 15.8%, with both moves following earnings reports.In Hong Kong, the Hang Seng Index finished off 0.2%, undercut by property issues.The broad gauge Hang Seng fell 52.42 to 25,925.65, as losing issues outnumbered gainers 53 to 36. The Hang Seng TECH Index gained 0.8% on the day, while the Mainland Properties Index fell 0.7%.Leading the upside was Semiconductor Manufacturing International, gaining 6.1%, while Sinopharm declined 3.8%.On the mainland, the Shanghai Composite rose 0.2% to 4,086.34.In economic news, industrial profits in China rose 15.8% on the year in March, largely on the back of private-sector enterprises, said the National Bureau of Statistics. The agency's survey is limited to companies with more than $2.9 million a year in revenue.On the other regional exchanges, the South Korean KOSPI rose 2.2%; the Taiwan TWSE advanced 1.8%; the Australian ASX 200 declined 0.2%; the Singapore Straits Times Index fell 0.6%, and the Thai Set rose 1.6%. In late trading in Mumbai, the Sensex was up 0.8%The MSCI All Country Asia Pacific Index rose 1.2% on the day.
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