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Tokyo (AFP)
Chinese stocks began the week on a positive note Monday, but trade was weak. Many major world markets were closed at Easter and Japanese equities declined.
The Shanghai Composite Reference Index seemed to gain momentum as a result of comments from Chinese policymakers reiterating their support for the economy at a senior officials meeting last week.
Shanghai's benchmark composite index opened 3.29.49 points, an increase of 0.24%, or 7.69 points. The second level of the Shenzhen composite index was slightly higher at the opening bell.
At the same time, Tokyo shares fell as investors sought to position themselves against an unprecedented closure of the Japanese market at the 10th anniversary, thus celebrating the enthronement of a new emperor on May 1.
The benchmark Nikkei 225 fell slightly by 0.12% or 25.84 points to settle at 22,174.72 early in the session. The broader Topix index fell further, down 0.24% or 3.94 points to 1,612.99.
Hideyuki Ishiguro, a strategist at Daiwa Securities, said however that there were not enough "new events that are moving the market" to stimulate trading on Monday morning.
Traders may hold fire while they wait for a two-day meeting of the Bank of Japan later in the week. Some companies, including the video game giant Nintendo, also reveal their latest results.
The precision engine builder Nidec made a report Tuesday and the Fanuc industrial robot manufacturer the next day, said Ishiguro, who added that investors would also look at the results of the US giants of the computer, Amazon and Microsoft, later this week.
Among other Japanese stocks, the SoftBank group lost 0.21% to 11,520 yen and Panasonic, 0.24% to 1,028.5 yen.
Regarding the foreign exchange markets, Resona Bank said in a comment that the trade would also be affected by the holidays.
The dollar-yen rate remained unchanged, the greenback reaching 111.94 yen at the start of Asian trade, against 111.91 yen Friday in Asia.
Stephen Innes, Head of Trading Operations at SPI Asset Management, said that a "convergence of positive events continues to reinforce the feeling of risk".
The markets "should remain in a happy state provided that the Federal Reserve remains on the" dovish "course because cheap and abundant money would have a very calming effect on equity investors," he said.
The markets of Hong Kong and Australia were closed during the Easter holidays, while many European and American markets will not be traded on Monday.
The Brent and WTI crude markets both rose by almost 2%, as traders await the announcement by the US of the end of waivers for all countries as part of their sanctions on Iranian oil purchases.
burs-ric / hg
? AFP 2019
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