Asian stock markets were mixed Monday as investors waited to find out who US President Donald Trump will pick to head the Federal Reserve.
Tokyo’s Nikkei 225 index lost 0.1 per cent to 21,995.15 and the Shanghai Composite Index shed 0.7 per cent to 3,392.03. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng was flat at 28,448.81.
Australia’s S&P-ASX 200 rose 0.3 per cent to 5,922.20. Seoul’s Kospi advanced 0.3 per cent to 2,502.59 and benchmarks in New Zealand, Taiwan and Jakarta also rose. Singapore declined, reports AP.
US stocks set new records on Friday. The S&P 500 index rose 0.8 per cent to a record 2,581.07. The Dow Jones industrial average gained 0.1 per cent to 23,434.19.
The Nasdaq composite made its biggest gain since November as it soared 2.2 per cent, to a record 6,701.26.
Benchmark US crude advanced 3 cents to $53.93 per barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. The contract soared $1.26 on Friday to close at $53.90.
Brent crude, used to price international oils, lost 1 cent to $60.12 in London. It jumped $1.09 the previous session to $60.13.
The dollar edged down to 113.61 yen from Friday’s 113.68 yen. The euro was little changed at $1.1612.