Panoramic view of Busan, South Korea, taken at sunrise.
Alex Veplik | Moments | Getty Images
Asia-Pacific markets rose on Monday after concerns over artificial intelligence valuations spurred market declines across the region last week.
Asian investors were also analyzing October inflation data released by China over the weekend, which was better than expected.
The headline consumer inflation rate was 0.2% year-on-year, compared to zero growth expected by economists polled by Reuters. The wholesale inflation rate was expected to decline by 2.2% from the previous year, but it fell by 2.1%, a slower-than-expected decline.
Korean Kospi Bank stocks and insurance stocks led the rise, rising 3.48%, while the small-cap Kosdaq rose 1.29%. Leading stocks on the Kospi index, such as Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix, recorded gains of about 2.6% and 5.78%, respectively.
Other top gainers included SK Inc, the holding company of South Korea’s second-largest chaebol, the family-run conglomerate SK Group, which rose about 10%. GS Holdings, which is part of the energy, retail and construction sectors and is one of the country’s largest conglomerates, rose more than 11%.
Japanese Nikkei Stock Average rose 1.31%, while the overall Topix rose 0.62%. The yield on 10-year Japanese government bonds rose to 1.695%, the highest level since October.
On Monday, the minutes of the Bank of Japan’s October meeting revealed that the bank appears more inclined to raise short-term interest rates, saying that “the conditions for taking further steps towards normalizing policy rates are likely to have been largely met.”
However, the Bank of Japan also said that there are other factors to consider, such as the need to examine “the extent to which the underlying inflation rate is entrenched.”
Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index also joined in the recovery rally, rising 0.89%, while mainland China’s CSI300 index bucked the trend and fell 0.24%.
Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 rose 0.73%.
India’s Nifty 50 rose 0.43% and the Sensex index rose 0.51%.
The Nasdaq Composite Index continued to fall on Friday, but the Dow Jones Industrial Average and S&P 500 edged back into positive territory after Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer proposed a new plan to Republicans that could help lift the record U.S. government shutdown.
A University of Michigan survey showed Friday that consumer sentiment in the country is nearing its lowest level on record. The data comes just one day after Challenger, Gray & Christmas Co. reported that layoff announcements for October reached the highest level for the month in 22 years.
—CNBC’s Sean Conlon and Pia Singh contributed to this report.
