Japan leads Asian stocks higher as on lifting emergency state

Asian stock indices opened the second session of the week higher with Japanese stocks leading the charge with over 2% gains after Prime Minister Shinzo Abe lifted the emergency state, adding Japan has managed to control the pandemic. 

Earlier Japanese data showed services price rose 1% in April, slowing down from 1.6% in March, while industrial activities fell 3.8% in March. 

Bank of Japan reported core consumer prices fell 0.1% y/y in April, while Prime Minister Shinzo Abe lifted the emergency state, adding Japan has managed to control the pandemic. 

The government plans to launch a new 100 trillion yen ($929 billion) stimulus plan to support struggling companies among a massive effort to ease the economic fallout from the virus. 

According to World Health Organization data, total infections from Covid 19 reached 5.5 million worldwide, with the death toll standing at 346,000. 

Japan's TOPEX rose 1.53%, while Nikkei 225 climbed 2.09% to 21,175. 

China's CSI 300 rose 0.82% to 3,860, while Shanghai climbed 0.72% to 2,838. 

Hong Kong's Hang Seng rose 1.92%, while South Korea's KOSPI rallied 1.21% to 2,018. 

New Zealand's NZX 50 rose 1.14%, while Australia's S&P/ASX 200 rose 1.9% to 5,722.