Asia-Pacific stocks rise; Meituan earnings ahead

  • Shares in Asia-Pacific rose in Monday morning trade.
  • Investors look ahead to the release of earnings from Chinese food delivery giant Meituan.
  • U.S. Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell indicated Friday that the central bank is likely to begin tapering before the end of the year, though there is still "much ground to cover" before rate hikes.

SINGAPORE — Shares in Asia-Pacific rose in Monday morning trade as investors look ahead to the release of Chinese food delivery giant Meituan's earnings.

In Japan, the Nikkei 225 advanced 0.75% while the Topix index gained 0.83%. South Korea's Kospi traded 0.83% higher.

The S&P/ASX 200 in Australia edged 0.22% higher.

MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan traded 0.34% higher.

Investors in the region will look ahead to the release of earnings from Chinese food delivery giant Meituan on Monday.

In other Chinese tech developments, Beijing is reportedly looking at new rules that would restrict domestic internet firms from going public in the U.S., according to the Wall Street Journal.

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Elsewhere, U.S. Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell indicated Friday that the central bank is likely to begin tapering before the end of the year, though there is still "much ground to cover" before rate hikes.

Currencies and oil

The U.S. dollar index, which tracks the greenback against a basket of its peers, was at 92.67 following a recent drop from above 93.0.

The Japanese yen traded at 109.85 per dollar, weaker than levels below 109.5 seen against the greenback last week. The Australian dollar changed hands at $0.7316, having climbed last week from below $0.72.

Oil prices were higher in the morning of Asia trading hours, with international benchmark Brent crude futures up 1.16% to $73.54 per barrel. U.S. crude futures advanced 0.77% to $69.27 per barrel.

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