Asia trades mostly higher; Nikkei leads gain while Shanghai falls behind – CNBC

The International Monetary Fund warned on Friday of “negative and substantial” net economic effects should the U.K. choose to leave.

The British pound strengthened after some Brexit concerns eased; the pound traded at $ 1.4588 as of 12:36 p.m. HK/SIN on Monday, compared to levels around $ 1.40 on Thursday.

The dollar pulled back against a basket of currencies, with the dollar index trading at 93.487 Monday morning Asia time, compared to levels near 95.300 that it touched late last week.

Meanwhile, the Japanese yen, considered a safe-haven asset, traded at 104.59 against the dollar, after pushing as high as 103.58 following the Bank of Japan’s decision to stand pat on monetary policy on Thursday.

Major export stocks received a boost from the relative weakness in the yen, with shares of Toyota up 2.21 percent, Nissan up 2.57 percent and Sony higher by 3.86 percent.

Major yen crosses also traded higher, with the euro/yen at 118.97, from levels near 115.46 on Thursday. The pound/yen was up 152.61, compared to around 149.00 late last week.

“The BOJ has been keeping its power dry for the Brexit fallout,” said Stephen Innes, a senior foreign exchange trader at OANDA, adding intervention will likely happen if the dollar/yen reaches the 100 handle as it would be perceived to be “unrelated to actual Japanese fundamentals.”

Some of the impact of the yen’s strength was felt in Japan’s trade numbers, released before market open. Exports declined 11.3 percent on-year in May according to the Ministry of Finance data, versus a Reuters’ median estimate for a 10.4 percent annual fall.

Oil prices advanced during Asian hours, with global benchmark Brent up 1 percent at $ 49.66 a barrel as of 12:41 p.m. HK/SIN, while U.S. crude added 1.13 percent to $ 48.52. Energy plays in the region were positive, with Santos shares advancing 7.58 percent, Woodside Petroleum up 4.67 percent and Inpex up 5.33 percent.

Spot gold, another safe-haven asset, fell some 1.36 percent to $ 1,280.80 an ounce on the back of easing Brexit concerns. Gold miners in Australia traded lower, with Newcrest shares down 3.88 percent and Evolution Mining down 3.39 percent.

In company news, electronics giant Samsung said power supply to its China memory chip plant was disrupted on June 18 due to an outage, affecting a part of the production capacity at the facility, according to Reuters. The disruption affected less than 10,000 memory chip wafers at the plant, Reuters reported.

Investors appeared unconcerned over the news, with Samsung Electronics shares trading up 0.91 percent on Monday afternoon.

U.S. stocks closed lower Friday, with the Dow Jones industrial average down 57.94 points, or 0.33 percent, at 17,675.16; the S&P 500 index finished 6.77 points lower, or 0.33 percent, at 2,071.22. The Nasdaq composite ended down 44.58 points, or 0.92 percent, at 4,800.34.

The major U.S. indexes lost more than 1 percent each for the week amid global uncertainties.

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