Asian stocks higher after record Dow close

Source: AP-Excite

By YURI KAGEYAMA

TOKYO (AP) — Asian stock markets advanced Monday after two Wall Street benchmarks hit record highs and investors waited for a U.S. jobs report later in the week for confirmation of optimism about the American economy.

Trading in the region is expected to be relatively subdued with markets closed for holidays in mainland China, Hong Kong, Taiwan and New Zealand.

Japan's Nikkei 225 was up 2.1 percent at 14,940.96 in afternoon trading after the yen weakened to about 102 to the dollar. Weakness in the yen is typically a boost for the share prices of Japan's export giants.

South Korea's Kospi inched up 0.4 percent to 2,002.00 and Australia's S&P/ASX 200 added 0.5 percent to 5,518.10. Markets in Southeast Asia were mostly higher.

FULL story at link.


Read more: http://apnews.excite.com/article/20140602/world_markets-75b2cd206c.html

---

A woman looks at an electronic stock board of a securities firm in Tokyo, Monday, June 2, 2014. Share prices rose cautiously in Asia on Monday, after the Dow Jones index closed last week at a record high and market players waited for a U.S. jobs report later in the week for confirmation of such optimism about the American economy. The Nikkei, the benchmark for the Tokyo Stock Exchange, was trading at 14,827.39, gaining 1.3 percent in the first hour of trading. (AP Photo/Koji Sasahara)