ASIA MARKETS: Asia Stocks Start Off Monday By Adding To Solid Gains Of Previous Week

By MarketWatch, MarketWatch

Stock markets in Asia were forging higher Monday morning, building on solid gains the previous week as hopes for a U.S.-China trade continue to rise.

Chinese stocks were among the top performers in the region with the Shanghai Composite ahead nearly 1%, with large caps again leading the way. They're up more than 1% after the broader market jumped some 5% to start April. Shenzhen benchmarks are trailing, with the Composite Index up 0.8% and the startup-heavy ChiNext just 0.1% higher.

Alcohol maker Moutai (600519.SH) hit record highs after its 1Q update while peer (600779.SH) umps 6.5% as Diageo (DGE.LN) builds its stake. Meanwhile, petrochemical stocks are sharply higher, boosted by a sector-wide crackdown amid a recent accident.

Hong Kong stocks were rising at a more moderate pace. The Hang Seng Index was up 0.3% while the China Enterprises Index is 0.9% higher. Insurers have started well, with Ping An (2318.HK) up more than 1.5% and at fresh record highs while AIA (1299.HK) has climbed some 1.25%. Developers Country Garden and China Overseas Land are up some 1.5%, as is internet heavyweight Tencent (0700.HK) . And oil major CNOOC (0883.HK) has climbed 2% as crude prices continue to hit 5-month highs

Two notable exceptions to the winners were New Zealand and Singapore. The former is set for a 4-day losing streak after a run of record highs, while enchmark is also down about 0.25% after 7-straight gains.

Japan's Nikkei , meanwhile, is little changed amid morning strength in the yen. Elsewhere, there are gains of about 0.5% in Australia and Taiwan, which had a 4-day weekend, is outperforming with the Taiex maintaining a 0.8% advance. S&P 500 futures have eased to session lows after Friday's gains and are down 0.1%.

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

April 07, 2019 22:59 ET (02:59 GMT)

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