Asian stock markets are rising, driven by US technology and labor market data

Sydney/Tokyo/Seoul. The majority of Asian stock markets rose on Monday thanks to stronger guidance from the US technology sector and robust US labor market data. The Japanese stock market trended stronger: In Tokyo, the 225-stock Nikkei index rose by 2.2 percent to 66,460 points, and the broader Topix was 0.6 percent higher at 4,128 points.

The Shanghai Stock Exchange, on the other hand, remained almost unchanged at 3,928 positions. The index of major companies in Shanghai and Shenzhen rose 0.3 percent to 4,562 points.

Prices in Asia were driven primarily by semiconductor stocks, which followed the strong development on Wall Street. The winners in Japan included chip suppliers Advantest and Tokyo Electron, which each jumped by more than four percent. The memory manufacturer Kioxia gained 6.8 percent.

"With U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent appearing to curb bond yields and halt the yen's fall, market volatility has fallen," said Mamoru Shimode, chief strategist at Resona Asset Management. "This has made it easier for equity investors to switch to risk-on mode." The losers, however, included Japanese banks such as Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group, which lost more than one percent, and Sony, which lost two percent.