Asia opens higher on Covid 19 vaccine hopes

Asian stock indices opened the first session of the week higher amid vaccine hopes after Pfizer CEO said it's possible for a vaccine to launch by the year end, which would be a shorter timeline than most official expectations. 

Japan's SoftBank Group is preparing to sell its UK chip maker ARM to Nvidia for nearly $40 billion, creating the largest company in its field in the world. 

Earlier New Zealand data showed services index down to 46.9 from 54.4 in August. 

Earlier Japanese data showed industrial production up 8.7%, compared to estimates of a 8% increase, while falling 15.5% on a yearly basis. 

Japan's energy utilization rate rose 9.6%, improving from 6.2% in June, while the tertiary industrial index fell 0.5%. 

It's widely expected that General Secretary Yushihide Suga will win the party elections to succeed Abe as a Prime Minister. 

Japan's TOPEX rose 0.95%, while Nikkei 225 rose 0.74% to 23,580. 

China's CSI 300 rose 0.42%, while Shanghai climbed 0.42% to 3,274.  

Hong Kong's Hang Seng rose 0.70% to 24,674, while South Korea's KOSPI rallied 1.24% to 2,426. 

New Zealand's NZX 50 rose 0.19%, while Australia's S&P/ASX 200 rose 0.56% to 5,892.