Asian stock markets mostly rose in early trading Monday, with Japan leading gains in the region, as investors shrugged off worries about U.S.-China trade relations and continued tech-stock weakness on Wall Street.
Japan’s Nikkei NIK, -0.09% was up 0.6% as the yen USDJPY, -0.03% retreated against the dollar, last at ¥111.97 versus ¥111.87 in late New York trade on Friday. Still, some major companies were under pressure, with Toyota 7203, -0.90% and SoftBank 9984, -0.23% lower. But Honda 7267, +0.55% was up 1.2% a day ahead of its earnings report.
Hong Kong stocks joined regional peers recovering from Friday’s global selloff, though early out-of-gate gains were whittled in a few minutes. The benchmark Hang Seng Index HSI, -0.27% was up 0.2%, from a 1% gain at the open. Chinese property developers such as China Overseas 0688, +1.88% , Sino Land 0083, -2.71% and China Resources Land 1109, +0.96% led with gains of 1% to 3%. Index major HSBC 0005, +0.66% was up 1% ahead of its third-quarter earnings Monday while AIA 1299, -0.17% rose 0.5% and Tencent 0700, -0.54% added 0.2%. The latter had weighed on the benchmark on Friday, pushing it to a fresh 17-month low. Most Chinese automakers listed in Hong Kong were down with Great Wall Motor 2333, -6.97% losing 7.9%.
Stocks in mainland China fell, however, with the Shanghai Composite SHCOMP, -1.53% down 0.8% and the smaller-cap Shenzhen Composite 399106, -1.31% falling more than 1%.
South Korea’s Kospi SEU, -0.53% gave up early gains, with Samsung 005930, +0.24% up slightly while chip maker SK Hynix 000660, -2.69% fell more than 2%.
Australia’s ASX 200 XJO, +0.95% rose almost 1%, led by the energy and financial sectors. New Zealand’s benchmark NZ50GR, +0.16% was up slightly. Benchmark indexes in Taiwan Y9999, -0.12% , Singapore STI, +0.28% and Malaysia FBMKLCI, -0.08% posted early gains as well.
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