Investing.com - Asian shares mostly gained on Monday with Tokyo closed for a holiday and investors focused on policymaker remarks later this week for direction.
The S&P/ASX 200 climbed 0.96%, seeing broad gains across all sub-indexes except for materials and gold.
Fortescue Metals fell 3.62%, while Rio Tinto (LON:RIO) dipped 1.11% after Australia's Department of Industry, Innovation and Science forecasts iron ore prices at $51.60 a tonne this year and $46.70 in 2018, compared to current spot prices of around $80.
In greater China, the Shanghai Composite Index rose 0.25%, while Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index edged down 0.05% to 22,489.4074.
The yuan fell against the dollar on Monday after the People's Bank of China set a much weaker fixing at 6.9262, compared with 6.8668 Friday, the biggest daily percentage drop in the fixing
since June 27, 2016.
In the week ahead, investors will be looking ahead to U.S. economic reports, particularly Friday’s retail sales figures for December. Investors will also be watching an appearance by Fed Chair Janet Yellen on Thursday and speeches by a handful of other Fed officials during the week, as well as President-elect Donald Trump on Wednesday for a press conference.
Last week, U.S. stocks were higher after the close on Friday, as gains in the Technology, Industrials and Healthcare sectors led shares higher.
At the close in NYSE, the Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 0.32%, while the S&P 500 index gained 0.35%, and the NASDAQ Composite index added 0.60%.