Stocks are mixed in Asia on Monday, in.......>

STOCKS: Stocks are mixed in Asia on Monday, in Japan the Nikkei 225 is down 36

points at 23,772. The index has recovered off lows of 23,697 hit early in the

session. It has been a quiet Asia session with the main focus being the US

government shutdown. Despite rumours of a vote on Sunday night in the US the

Senate has now adjourned with a vote on a stop gap funding bill at 12 noon EST

on Monday, meaning the government will remain closed at least part of Monday.

The uncertainty initially saw yen strength which pushed the Japanese index to

session lows, before the USD staged a mile recovery taking USD/JPY back to

unchanged levels on the session and helped the Nikkei 225 recover.

- In Australia the ASX 200 is flat on the session, last at 6,007. Iron ore

prices are higher which has helped support the index, but a drop in the

financial sector has moderated gains. In China the Shanghai Comp is up 2.5

points at 3,490, in Hong Kong the Hang Seng is up 14 points at 32,270. Shares in

Hong Kong extend a record breaking run of gains though analysts caution that the

index is looking overbought. In the US futures are negative as the government

shutdown extends, e-mini S&P down 2.75 points.