Asian Shares Mostly Higher After Yellen Comments

Most shares in Asia were up slightly on Monday, with investors buying up stocks in Japanese exporters and other underperforming sectors.

The Nikkei Stock Average was up 0.9%, fueled by weakness in the Japanese yen amid broad U.S. dollar strength, boosting export-oriented companies. The yen on Monday briefly touched 111 against the dollar, which rose on comments by the head of the Federal Reserve.

Among Tokyo-listed exporters, Honda Motor rose nearly 2%, Toyota Motor gained 1.3% and Canon was up 0.6%.

A weaker currency helps the competitiveness of local firms paying costs at home and repatriating earnings from abroad.

Elsewhere, Hong Kong's Hang Seng China Enterprises Index, which tracks the movement of Chinese companies listed in the city, edged up 0.8% after falling more than 11% so far this year.

The broader Hang Seng Index also gained 0.8%, while stocks in Australia, South Korea and Shanghai were roughly flat.

In Singapore, shares of Noble Group fell 3.3% after the commodities trader announced the resignation of its chief executive and the planned sale of its North America energy-solutions business, capping months of difficulties for the company.

Noble's share price has fallen by as much as two thirds since February 2015 when its accounting practices were first criticized by an anonymous blogger.

For broader markets, however, the top issue for investors remains stuck on U.S. interest rates.

Expectations for higher rates firmed up after Fed Chairwoman Janet Yellen said late Friday that a rate increase would be appropriate in coming months if the economy continues to strengthen.

"This is generally in line with market expectations as a series of positive U.S. economic data have led a number of Fed governors to take a more hawkish stance towards a possible summer rate hike," said Margaret Yang, a market strategist with CMC Markets in Singapore.

Higher rates may have investors pulling out further from riskier assets including stocks in Asian emerging markets. At the same time, an increase would signal strengthening in the U.S. economy, a positive driver for stocks. On Friday, data out of the U.S. showed that a slowdown in first quarter wasn't as bad as initially thought.

U.S. stock markets are closed Monday for the Memorial Day holiday. But stock indexes there rose Friday, as riskier corners of the markets also picked up.

Prices of Brent crude oil were down 0.1% at $49.90 a barrel during the Asian trading day.

Jake Maxwell Watts contributed to this article.

Write to Chao Deng at [e-mail]

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

May 30, 2016 01:25 ET (05:25 GMT)

Copyright (c) 2016 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.