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The Financial Express

Asian stock markets edge higher, dollar falls

| Updated: January 16, 2018 13:43:53


File Photo (Collected) File Photo (Collected)

Asian shares were mostly higher on Monday after Wall Street's strong finish last week. The US dollar weakened against most major currencies, including the Japanese yen.

Japan's Nikkei 225 rose 0.3 per cent to 23,714.88 and South Korea's Kospi added 0.3 per cent to 2,505.00. Hong Kong's Hang Seng index jumped 0.7 per cent to 31,638.34, reports AP.

China's Shanghai Composite Index slipped 0.5 per cent to 3,412.52. Australia's S&P/ASX 200 inched up 0.1 per cent to 6,077.10. Stocks in Taiwan and Southeast Asia were moderately higher.

US stock markets finished higher on Friday. The S&P 500 rose 0.7 per cent to finish at 2,786.24 and the Dow Jones industrial average climbed 0.9 per cent to 25,803.19.

The tech-heavy Nasdaq composite rose 0.7 per cent to 7,261.06 and the Russell 2000 index of small-cap stocks gained 0.3 per cent to 1,591.97. US markets are closed Monday for a public holiday.

Benchmark US crude rose 20 cents to $64.50 per barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. The contract rose 50 cents to settle at $64.30 per barrel in the previous session.

Brent crude, the international standard, picked up 6 cents to $69.93 per barrel.

The dollar slipped to 110.82 Japanese yen from 111.04 yen. The euro strengthened to $1.2215 from $1.2199.

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