After geopolitical tensions in the Middle East seemed to have died down, at least for now, major Asian-Pacific stock markets ended their trade generally higher late Monday.
There were no big events, but Wall Street investors did say some of the activities were influenced by the decision made by China's central bank to keep its loan prime rates intact. A US bank holiday on Monday may have also limited the action on key stock trading floors.
The Shanghai Index of China ended at 3095.79, up 20.29 or 0.66 percent and Australia's S&P/ASX 200 Index, settled at 7079.50, up 15.40 or 0.22 percent.
Japan's Nikkei 225 Index settled at 24083.51 on Monday, up 42.25 or 0.18 percent. Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index ended at 28849.84, down 206.58 or -0.71 percent and South Korea's KOSPI Index settled at 2262.64, up 12.07 or 0.54 percent.
For January, the People's Bank of China kept its prime rates of one year and five years of loan unchanged. "We're still expecting some changes to the loan prime rate at some point this year," Kevin Leung, Haitong International Securities Executive Director of Investment Strategy, told CNBC.
As Minister of Industry and Information Technology Miao Wei said, the country is very confident to maintain its steady industrial and manufacturing growth this year despite major market pressures.
His remarks came after the highest expectations of China's industrial output in December last year grew 6.9 percent compared to a year earlier, the fastest pace in three quarters.
More government stimulus is also expected by investors and traders after China's economic growth has cooled to a nearly 30-year low of 6.1 percent in 2019 in the midst of a long-drawn trade showdown with the United States.
Chinese pharmaceutical stocks rallied on Monday as more than 100 new cases of pneumonia from a new strain of coronavirus were reported in the country.
Jiangsu Bioperfectus Technologies, which recently reported creating a breakthrough drug test kit that would allow medical practitioners and hospitals to better detect the virus, climbed 20 percent on the Star Market. That's the highest allowed on that board that was introduced last year in Shanghai.
The Australian stock market stretched its winning streak to a fifth straight session late Monday, following new record peaks on Wall Street in the wake of renewed optimism after the United States and China signed a historic trade deal. Last week's strong Chinese and US economic figures have fanned more upbeat sentiment across major stock markets.
