Asian markets post gains at Monday's close

By Tuba Sahin

ANKARA (AA) - Major stock markets in Asia closed with gains on Monday, spurred by US Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell’s dovish speech at the Jackson Hole symposium last Friday.

The Asia Dow, which includes blue-chip companies in the region, gained 25.6 points, or 0.66%, to close at around 3,890.

Tokyo’s Nikkei 225 stock exchange climbed by 148.15 points, or 0.54%, to 27,789.

The Hang Seng, the benchmark for blue-chip stocks trading on the Hong Kong stock exchange, posted an increase of 131.65 points, or 0.52%, to 25,539.

China’s Shanghai stock exchange was up 5.99 points, or 0.17%, to 3,528 points.

In Europe, major indices were also on a high during the first transaction day of the week, after Powell signaled a likely cut in the amount of monthly bond purchases this year but indicated that there was no hurry to raise interest rates.