Asian equities moved broadly higher early Monday, extending last week’s global stock rally, even as some local markets underwent a bout of morning weakness.
The same happened Friday before markets in the region were almost uniformly able to end the week with solid gains.
Indexes in Hong Kong, China and Taiwan opened lower, weighed by fresh regulatory steps in China, but staged a turnaround later in the session to close in positive territory.
Taiwan’s Taiex Y9999, +0.33% rose 0.3% to close at an almost 28-year high, while the Shanghai Composite Index SHCOMP, +0.52% ended 0.5% higher for a seventh straight session of gains. The Hang Seng Index HSI, +0.28% added 0.3%, supported by a jump in Chinese property developers.
Weighing on Greater China stocks initially were steps by China’s banking regulator announced Friday. They “sent one clear message” that fundamentals and transparency “will be the key regulatory guidance for China’s commercial banks to contain financial risk,” said Tommy Xie, an economist at OCBC Bank in Singapore.
Major Chinese banks pared early weakness in Hong Kong, with Bank of China 3988, -0.75% closing 0.8% lower and China Construction Bank 0939, -0.39% falling 0.4%.
Broadly in the region, “there are no signs of a pullback yet,” said Margaret Yang, a market analyst at CMC. Asian equities should maintain a positive outlook as major markets appear set to keep building on recent gains, she added.
South Korea was among best performing markets on Monday, with the Kospi SEU, +0.63% closing 0.6% higher as the Korean won USDKRW, +0.46% fell 1% against the dollar during a 10-minute stretch of midmorning trading. Traders blamed the currency weakness on central-bank intervention, as the won had been at its strongest levels versus the dollar since 2014.
Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 XJO, +0.13% hit a new 10-year high Monday. The benchmark advanced 0.1%, helped by gains in the country’s big banks.
New Zealand’s NZX 50 benchmark NZ50GR, -0.36% ended down 0.4% after setting three straight record closing highs last week.
Japanese markets were closed Monday for a holiday.
Sara Sjolin contributed to this article