Beijing Central Business District, mix of offices and apartments
Ispyfriend | E+ | Getty Images
Asia-Pacific markets 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. The attacks continued over the weekend.
China released its retail sales and industrial output figures for May. Retails sales jumped 6.4% from the previous year, while industrial output growth slowed to 5.8% year on year.
Mainland China’s CSI 300 index was up 0.19% in its final hour, while Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index added 0.43% in choppy trade.
Japan’s benchmark Nikkei 225 climbed 1.26% to end the day at 38,311.33, while the broader Topix index advanced 0.75% to 2,777.13.
In South Korea, the Kospi index surged 1.8% to close at 2,946.66, while the small-cap Kosdaq increased by 1.09% to 777.26.
Over in Australia, the S&P/ASX 200 ended the day flat at 8,548.40.
Meanwhile, India’s Nifty 50 rose 0.72%, while the BSE Sensex index was up 0.65%.
— CNBC’s Pia Singh and Darla Mercado contributed to this report.