Asian Stocks Extend Gains

(RTTNews) - Asian equity markets rallied on Monday tracking Wall Street's strong performance on Friday attributed mainly to strong corporate earnings. The geopolitical stress from the Middle East conflict however capped gains. Markets in China and Japan are closed for a holiday.

The Hang Seng Index of the Hong Kong Stock Exchange jumped 319 points or 1.24 percent from the previous close to finish trading at 26,095.88. The day's trading range was between a high of 26,326.44 and a low of 26,091.86. The index has gained around 16 percent over the course of the past year.

Korean Stock Exchange's Kospi Index surged 338 points or 5.1 percent from the previous close of 6,598.87 to close trading at a record high of 6,936.99. The day's trading range was between 6,741.63 and 6,937. The index has gained more than 170 percent over the course of the past year.

Australia's S&P/ASX200 closed trading at 8,697.10, shedding 33 points or 0.37 percent from the previous close of 8,729.80, amidst anxiety ahead of Reserve Bank of Australia's interest rate decision on Tuesday. The day's trading ranged between 8,675.40 and 8,738.10. The index has gained 5.6 percent over the course of the past year.

Life360 led gains with an addition of 6.2 percent followed by Imdex that rallied 4.9 percent. A2 Milk plunged 9.9 percent followed by Liontown that erased 8.3 percent.

The NZX 50 of the New Zealand Stock Exchange added 58 points or 0.45 percent to close trading at a three-week high of 13,097.68. The day's trading ranged between 12,938.53 and 13,097.68. The index has gained 6.2 percent over the past year.

Freightways topped gains with a surge of 4.3 percent. EROAD followed with gains of 4.2 percent. A2 Milk led losses with a decline of 9.6 percent, followed by Tourism Holdings that shed 3.8 percent.

Wall Street had closed on a mixed note on Friday amidst strong corporate earnings and a decline in crude oil prices. The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite jumped 0.89 percent to close trading at a record high of 25,114.44. The S&P 500 also rallied 0.29 percent to finish trading at an all-time high of 7,230.12. The Dow Jones Industrial Average however slipped 0.31 percent to finish trading at 49,499.27.