Asia opens the week mixed

Asian stock indices opened the first session of the week mixed with China, Australia, Hong Kong, and South Korea up, while Japan and New Zealand lost ground, after US Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said the Republican Party is putting the final touches on a $1 trillion rescue bill for the economy. 

Earlier Japanese data showed industrial activity fell 3.5% as expected in May, while core consumer prices rose 0.1% in June. 

In their meeting minutes, Bank of Japan's policymakers doubted the economy would recover to pre-Covid 19 levels before 2022. 

The World Health Organization reported nearly 15.8 million Covid 19 cases worldwide, with 642,000 dying so far. 

Japan's TOPEX fell 0.5% to 1,565, while Nikkei 225 lost 0.54% to 22,629. 

China's CSI 300 rose 0.46%, while Shanghai climbed 0.21% to 3,203. 

Hong Kong's Hang Seng rose 0.22%, while South Korea's KOSPI rallied 1.18% to 2,226. 

New Zealand's NZX 50 fell 0.39%, while Australia's S&P/ASX 200 rose 0.22% to 6,037.