Asian markets in significant gains

In Asia on Monday the markets that were open saw significant gains on the session. In Singapore, the Straits Times index was 1.57 percent higher to 3,400. Meanwhile in India, the Sensex gained 2.5 percent to 13,177.74.

In Tokyo, the Nikkei 225 added 1.5 percent to 17,743.76, while the Topix index gained 1.2 percent to 1,738.1. The gains came after last Friday’s employment numbers out of the US, which saw the unemployment rate drop on many more jobs than had been anticipated being created in March. The news helped the dollar in relation to the yen, which in turn helped export-focused shares on the Tokyo markets. There were gains in the semiconductors sector, with chip wholesaler Fuji Electronics (TYO: 9883), up on a report that its full year profits were up 16 percent on strong sales. Camera and medical equipment maker Pentax (TYO: 7750) was up after it said it will decide Tuesday on an offer from optical glass maker Hoya (TYO: 7741). Shippers also saw gains on the session.

At midday in New York, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 0.1 percent to 12,574.66, while the Nasdaq Composite had also added 0.1 percent to 2,473.72 after earlier declines and the S&P 500 had gained 0.2 percent to 1,446.09. Investors seemed reluctant to commit after Friday’s news on US employment, fearing that lower unemployment will lead to a hike in interest rates. Dow Chemical (NYSE: DOW; TYO: 4850) was higher on a report that it could be the target of a buyout attempt from private equity and a group of Middle East investors. In other mergers and acquisition news, Citigroup (NYSE: C) declined fractionally after it said it will purchase Bank of Overseas Chinese (TAI: 5818), based in Taiwan. The semiconductors sector saw gains, with Advanced Micro Devices (NYSE: AMD) up even though it said that revenues in the first quarter would probably not rise to estimates. With first quarter results due to be released on Tuesday, aluminium producer Alcoa (NYSE: AA) was also higher.

European markets remained closed for the Easter holiday, but will reopen on Tuesday.

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