Higher In Asia; Chinese Developers Halt Five-Day Slide As Banking Regulator Steps In

Major Asia-Pac equity indices are higher at typing on a positive lead from Wall St. following Friday’s U.S. data, with Chinese and Hong Kong markets outperforming in the wake of statements from PBOC Governor Yi Gang on Saturday and banking regulator China Banking and Insurance Regulatory Commission (CBIRC) re: weaker growth and well-documented woes faced by Chinese developers respectively. Japanese markets are shut for a holiday.

• The Hang Seng leads gains amongst regional peers, dealing 2.6% firmer at typing on the back of gains in almost every constituent. The property (+3.2%) and financial (+2.4%) sub-indices outperformed, with both on track to snap a five-session streak of lower closes, likely catching a bid on a statement from Chinese banking regulator CBIRC on Monday urging banks to provide credit for developers to complete unfinished projects.
• The CSI300 sits 1.2% better off at typing after reversing earlier losses of as much as 0.7%, with the real estate (+2.8%) and financials (+1.9%) sub-gauges contributing the most to gains.
• The ASX200 deals 0.8% firmer, just shy of session highs at writing. Tech stocks lead gains, with the S&P/ASX All Technology Index adding 1.9%, while commodity-related equities tracked a rally in commodity prices higher (BCOM: +0.8%), with the materials and energy sub-indices sitting 1.7% and 2.0% better off respectively.
• E-minis trade 0.3% to 0.7% higher, operating around session highs at typing.