Investing.com - Asian shares held mostly weaker on Monday with Tokyo bucking the trend and an output cut deal reached at the weekend between OPEC and non-OPEC producers in focus.
Oil prices soared in early Asian trade, as investors react to the weekend's news of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) and non-OPEC countries led by Russia arriving at their first output cutting agreement in Vienna, a first since 2001. The deal will help to ease a global supply glut after more than two years of low prices.
The Nikkei 225 rose 0.59%, while the S&P/ASX dropped 0.06% and the Shanghai Composite fell 1.82%.
The yuan fell to a two-week low against the dollar after the People's Bank of China set a much weaker fixing at 6.9086 Monday, the lowest level since Nov. 25.
Last week, U.S. stocks were higher after the close on Friday, as gains in the Healthcare, Consumer Goods and Utilities sectors led shares higher.
At the close in NYSE, the Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 0.72% to hit a new all time high, while the S&P 500 index climbed 0.59%, and the NASDAQ Composite index gained 0.50%.