SINGAPORE — Stocks in Asia-Pacific rose in trading Monday morning as investors look ahead to the release of China’s latest lending benchmark. Oil prices also rose by more than 2%.
The S&P/ASX 200 gained 0.41%, with shares of Macquarie Group and Wesfarmers both rising more than 1%.
The Kospi in South Korea remained fractionally higher. Markets in Japan are closed on Monday for a holiday.
MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific stocks outside of Japan was down 0.04%.
Oil prices were higher in the morning of trading hours in Asia, with the international benchmark Brent oil futures rising 2.16% to $110.26 a barrel. US crude oil futures were up 2.4% to $107.21 a barrel.
According to a Reuters survey, China’s most recent prime-rate one-year bond is set to come out on Monday at 9:15 a.m. HK/SIN, with little expectations for change.
Investors in Asia will also monitor movements in the Hong Kong market on Monday, with the city’s Hang Seng index closing more than 4% higher last week after a volatile week that has fluctuated between major gains and losses.
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The US dollar index, which tracks the greenback against a basket of its counterparts, stood at 98,303 – a level lower than the 98.5 we have seen recently.
The Japanese yen traded at 119.25 per dollar after weakening from levels below 118.2 against the greenback last week. The Australian dollar changed hands at USD 0.7409, compared with levels below USD 0.721 last week.
This post Investors are waiting for the latest benchmark lending rate in China
was original published at “https://www.cnbc.com/2022/03/21/asia-markets-japan-closed-china-loan-prime-rate-currencies-oil.html”
