Asian shares notch gains after Wall Street rallies; Nikkei jumps 292 points

by Dramelin 6:30 PM 0 comments

Elsewhere, South Korea`s benchmark Kospi added 0.
42 percent while the junior Kosdaq saw more significant gains, climbing 1.
05 percent in early trade.
Amid the mixed tech sector, heavyweight Samsung Electronics rose 0.
21 percent after unveiling its new Galaxy S9 model on Sunday.
Shares of chipmaker SK Hynix advanced 1.
03 percent and LG Display was up 0.
Down Under, the S&P/ASX 200 edged up 0.
38 percent as the index reclaimed the 6,000 level.
The heavily weighted financials sector rose 0.
61 percent, making it one of the best-performing sectors in the morning.
Gains were also seen in the energy sector, which rose 0.
94 percent as Woodside Petroleum and Oil Search rose 1.
On the earnings front, Hong Kong`s CLP and Hutchison Telecommunications are among the regional corporates expected to report on Monday.
Gains in the region tracked the rally seen on Wall Street on Friday, which saw U.
stock indexes notching gains of more than 1 percent.
The S&P 500 closed higher by 1.
6 percent and the Dow Jones industrial average rose 1.
39 percent in the last session.
The Dow and S&P 500 finished the week with gains of 0.
Meanwhile, the Federal Reserve`s monetary policy report released on Friday indicated "gradual adjustments" in policy ahead, given how policymakers saw the U.
economy past full employment.
The release of the report came ahead of Fed Chair Jerome Powell`s testimony before Congress on Tuesday.
Markets are awaiting his comments for clues on the central bank`s interest rate hike path.
In individual stocks, Australia`s BlueScope Steel rose 4.
87 percent after the company reported first-half net profit after tax rose 23 percent to come in at 441.
2 million Australian dollars ($345.
It also announced that its share buyback would be extended by A$150 million.
In currencies, the dollar index, which tracks the greenback against a basket of six currencies, traded at 89.
HK/SIN, firmer than Friday`s close of 89.
Against the yen, the dollar traded at 107.
On the commodities front, oil prices were steady after touching two-week highs in the previous session.
The gains last week came after a surprise decline in U.
crude inventories and a shutdown of a Libyan oilfield.
crude futures was flat at $63.
55 per barrel and Brent crude futures was off by 0.