Beijing Central Business District, mix of offices and apartments
Ispyfriend | E+ | Getty Images
Asia-Pacific markets mostly rose Monday, as investors assessed escalating Israel-Iran tensions and parsed a slew of data from China.
Oil prices jumped as Israel and Iran exchanged strikes, while gold prices rallied, as investors sought refuge in the safe haven metal with equity markets sliding globally. The attacks continued over the weekend.
Investors kept a close watch on Chinese markets as the Asian superpower released a slew of data points, including its retail sales and industrial output figures for May. Retails sales in May jumped 6.4% from the previous year, while industrial output slowed to 5.8% year on year.
Mainland China’s CSI 300 index was flat, while Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index fell 0.18%.
Japan’s benchmark Nikkei 225 climbed 0.95%, while the broader Topix index advanced 0.56%.
In South Korea, the Kospi index gained 0.72%, while the small-cap Kosdaq moved up 0.55% in choppy trade.
Over in Australia, the S&P/ASX 200 was flat.
— CNBC’s Pia Singh and Darla Mercado contributed to this report.
