Japanese automakers, machinery makers gain on the back of a weaker yen
Japanese investors return from the long weekend and helped stocks gain further ground on the back of renewed optimism surrounding trade talks in Beijing but also as the Japanese yen weakened to above 110.00 against the dollar.
Gains elsewhere in the region were more measured though with the Shanghai Composite up by just 0.4% while the Hang Seng index is flat on the day. US equity futures are also showing some slight hints of optimism trading up by around 0.5% but pending trade talks are continuing to keep gains from running rampant for now.
Risk remains a little buoyed on the day but there's no major shift to risk-on tones across markets just yet despite what we saw yesterday. USD/JPY still trades at elevated levels close to 110.60 at the moment.
