Asian stocks rise ahead of China, Japan, Eurozone data

Asian shares rose Monday following Wall Street’s strong week as traders looked ahead to data releases from China, Japan and the Eurozone.

The Shanghai Composite Index gained 0.3 per cent to 3,402.92 and Seoul’s Kospi advanced 0.6 per cent to 2,511.40. Sydney’s S&P-ASX 200 rose 0.1 per cent to 6,130.40.

India’s Sensex added 0.6 per cent to 34,369.09. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng lost 0.1 per cent to 30,786.77 while Japanese markets were closed for a holiday, reports AP.

Benchmarks in Taiwan and most of Southeast Asia rose while New Zealand and Manila declined.

Stocks rose for a fourth day, led by tech companies after a solid monthly jobs report. US markets are on their longest new-year winning streak in eight years. The S&P 500 index gained 0.7 per cent to 2,743.15.

The Dow Jones industrial average added 0.9 per cent to 25,295.87. The Nasdaq composite rose 0.8 per cent to 7,136.56.

Benchmark US crude gained 10 cents to $61.54 per barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. The contract fell 57 cents on Friday to close at $67.62.

Brent crude, used to price international oils, advanced 8 cents to $67.70 in London. It lost 45 cents the previous session to $67.62.

The dollar gained to 113.13 yen from Friday’s 113.07 yen. The euro held steady at $1.2032.