Asian stocks start the week mostly positive as markets' hopes return

Asian stocks opened the first day of the week on mixed performance  mostly positive, with Japanese and Chinese stock indices rising by more than 1%, after the release of developments and economic data by two the largest economies in Asia and the second and third largest economies in the world, which showed an expansion by 0.6% for the japanese economy in the first quarter, as China's trade surplus rose more than expected in April.

Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index and the South Korean Kospi rose, while New Zealand's stocks posted negative stability on Monday, and Australia's stock markets lost ground on a holiday in Australia, amid cautious investor optimism after the United States reached an agreement with Mexico under which was it frozen the decision to impose tariffs on imports of America from Mexico, which was supposed to enter into force today.

In another context, we note that the slower pace of job creation in the US in the past month has boosted the chances for monetary policy makers to reduce interest rates, which in turn stimulated risk appetite in the financial markets. US President Donald Trump and President Xi Jinping are expected to meet during the G20 summit scheduled for June 28-29 in Japan.

Japanese stocks rose during today's trading session, with the broader Topix index rising by 1.06% to gain 16.29 points up to the level of 1,548.68, while Nikkei 225 index rose 1.15% by 239.69 points up to 21,124.40.

As for China, the CSI 300 index rose 1.02%, gaining 36.19 points to reach 3,600.87. The Shanghai Composite index rose 0.54% by 15.27 points to reach 2,843.07.

Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index gained 2.02% to 544.43 points, reaching 27,509.71. South Korea's Kospi Index rose 0.79% to 16.44 points, up to 2,088.77.

To New Zealand's NZX 50 index, which fell 0.03% 3.33 points to 10,044.49. On the other hand, the Australian S&P/ASX 200 index is out of business due to an official holiday in Australia.