Asian shares gain with Nikkei up on weaker yen, Shanghai jumps

Investing.com - Shares in Asia gained on Monday with Tokyo up at the break as downbeat industrial production figures weakened the yen and boosted exporters, while shares in China gained on expectations of policy measures to support growth.

The Nikkei 225 gained 0.53%. The Shanghai Composite jumped 1.31% ahead of the break.

In the week ahead, investors will be focusing the U.S. employment report for February, due out on Friday and Monday’s data on personal spending for further indications on the path of monetary policy. Tuesday’s euro zone inflation report will also be closely watched.

On Monday, the euro zone, Germany and Spain are to release preliminary data on consumer price inflation.

Switzerland is to publish its KOF economic barometer.

The U.K. is to produce data on net lending.

Canada is to release data on raw material price inflation.

The U.S. is to release reports on personal spending and pending home sales.

Last week, stocks on U.S. equities markets edged up on Friday to halt a four-day losing streak, as markets avoided their first streak of five consecutive daily losses since last March.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 34.43 or 0.19% to 17, 712.66, but still remained down for the year after moving into negative territory for 2015 earlier in the week.

The NASDAQ Composite index and the S&P 500 Composite index both closed the week on a strong note after experiencing significant losses in recent days. Although the NASDAQ rose 27.86 or 0.57% to 4,891.22, it still closed on Friday with one of its worst weekly performance since last October.

On Friday as a lukewarm report on U.S. economic growth and comments by Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen weighed.

The Commerce Department reported Friday that the U.S. economy expanded at an annual rate of 2.2% in the fourth quarter, unchanged from the preliminary estimate and below economists’ forecasts for an upward revision to 2.4%.

Another report showed that the final reading of the University of Michigan’s consumer sentiment index ticked down to 93.0 this month from a final reading of 95.4 in February.

The dollar showed little reaction after Fed Chair Janet Yellen struck a cautious note on interest rates. In a speech, the Fed chief said a rate hike may be warranted later this year, but added that weakening inflation pressures could force the Fed to delay.

The speech echoed the Fed’s latest policy statement, released on March 18, which indicated that it may raise interest rates more gradually than markets had expected.