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Asian markets rose in thin trade Monday ahead of the festive season, tracking cues from Wall Street where stocks surged in a Federal Reserve-fuelled "Santa Claus rally" last week.
Sydney surged 1.49 per cent, Hong Kong gained 1.18 per cent, Shanghai climbed 1.26 per cent and Seoul added 0.28 per cent.
Tokyo was flat by the break after the Bank of Japan gave a more upbeat view of the world's number three economy on Friday, saying exports were showing signs of picking up while factory output has started to "bottom out".
Trading is expected to be thin this week at the start of the holiday season, with many traders away for Christmas and New Year celebrations.
MALAYSIA share prices opened higher on Monday with the FTSE Bursa Malaysia Kuala Lumpur Composite Index up 7.64 points to 1723.87.
Volume was 21.53 million lots worth RM8.78 million.
Gainers outnumbered losers 101 to 21.
The U.S. stock market ended a turbulent week punctuated with collapse of the ruble, gyrations in the oil prices and the Federal Reserve’s policy meeting, with the biggest weekly gain since October.
The S&P 500 SPX, +0.46% ended the day up 9.42 points, or 0.5%, at 2,070.65 and gained 3.4% over the past week. Energy and materials sectors were leading the gains on Friday and throughout the week, as investors were betting that the bottom in oil prices might be in sight. Energy sector stocks in particular jumped nearly 10% over the past week, while materials gained 5%.
The ICE U.S. dollar index finished the week Friday at its highest level since March 2006 as investors pushed the dollar higher against the euro, yen and pound after Federal Reserve Chairwoman Janet Yellen hinted Wednesday that the central bank would begin raising rates around the middle of 2015.
The dollar USDJPY, +0.00% traded at 119.21 yen, compared with ¥118.94 Thursday.
The euro fell against the dollar after a gauge of Germany’s business activity in December improved from the prior month, but remained weak compared with recent U.S. data.
It EURUSD, +0.00% traded at $1.22, compared with $1.23 Thursday.
The pound GBPUSD, +0.00% traded at $1.56, compared with $1.57 Thursday.
The dollar traded lower against the ruble RUBUSD, +0.00% for the third straight day, trading at 58.87, compared with 61.07 Thursday, as Russia attempts to stabilize the volatile currency.
January platinum PLF5, -0.03% dipped by a dime to settle at $1,197.00 an ounce, while March palladium PAH5, +1.70% gained $12.95 to end at $805.10 an ounce. High-grade copper for March delivery HGH5, +1.54% tacked on 3 cents to settle at $2.88 a pound.
