Asia Markets: Asia stocks start off Monday by adding to solid gains of previous week

Stock markets in Asia were forging higher Monday morning, building on solid gains the previous week as hopes for a U.S.-China trade continue to rise.

Chinese stocks were among the top performers in the region with the Shanghai Composite SHCOMP, -0.09%   ahead nearly 1%, with large caps again leading the way. They’re up more than 1% after the broader market jumped some 5% to start April. Shenzhen 399106, -0.82%   benchmarks are trailing, with the Composite Index up 0.8% and the startup-heavy ChiNext just 0.1% higher.

Alcohol maker Moutai 600519, +3.47%   hit record highs after its 1Q update while peer 600779, +4.87%  umps 6.5% as Diageo DEO, -0.09%  builds its stake. Meanwhile, petrochemical stocks are sharply higher, boosted by a sector-wide crackdown amid a recent accident.

Hong Kong stocks were rising at a more moderate pace. The Hang Seng Index HSI, +0.29%   was up 0.3% while the China Enterprises Index HSCEI, +0.59%  is 0.9% higher. Insurers have started well, with Ping An 601318, +1.27%   up more than 1.5% and at fresh record highs while AIA 1299, +0.50%  has climbed some 1.25%. Developers Country Garden and China Overseas Land are up some 1.5%, as is internet heavyweight Tencent 0700, +0.74%  . And oil major CNOOC 0883, +1.81%  has climbed 2% as crude prices continue to hit 5-month highs

Two notable exceptions to the winners were New Zealand and Singapore. The former NZ50GR, -0.38%  is set for a 4-day losing streak after a run of record highs, while STI, -0.28%  enchmark is also down about 0.25% after 7-straight gains.

Japan’s Nikkei NIK, -0.18%  , meanwhile, is little changed amid morning strength in the yen. Elsewhere, there are gains of about 0.5% in Australia and Taiwan, which had a 4-day weekend, is outperforming with the Taiex maintaining a 0.8% advance. S&P 500 futures have eased to session lows after Friday’s gains and are down 0.1%.

This story was compiled from Dow Jones Newswires reports.

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