Asia report: Most markets up on Marine Day

Asian markets ended mostly higher on Monday, as traders brushed off the failed military coup in Turkey and ahead of a light week for data in the region.

Markets were closed and traders took the day off in Japan for the Marine Day public holiday.

The day off didn’t stop telecommunications giant Softbank from agreeing to acquire UK chip designer ARM Holdings for £23.4bn in an all-cash deal.

Softbank will pay £17 for each ARM share, representing a 43% premium to its closing price on Friday.

On the mainland, the Shanghai Composite Index fell behind by 0.34% to 3,043.90, while the Shenzhen Composite lost 0.53% to 2,027.87.

South Korea’s Kospi gained 0.19% to 2,021.11, while Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index added 0.66% to 21,803.18.

In Singapore, the Straits Times Index shrugged off poor export data from the city-state, and finished up 0.12% at 2,928.76.

Non-oil domestic exports fell 2.3% year-on-year in June, which was better than an expected 3% drop.

It contrasts with May however, when overseas shipments from Singapore jumped 11.6%, driven by gold and pharmaceuticals.

“June's contraction should be seen in the context of a normalization of the sharp rise in the May NODX print, which was clearly unsustainable,” said ANZ economist Weiwen Ng.

The country’s stock market operator Singapore Exchange announced that it will create a subsidiary called RegCo, to handle all of its regulatory functions.

It will be established by the second half of 2017, have its own separate board of directors, and be headed by current SGX chief regulatory officer Tan Boon Gin.

Elsewhere, a military coup attempt in Turkey on Friday night failed to oust President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, and sent the lira tumbling against the dollar and the euro.

The dollar was recently getting TRY 2.93, having spiked as high as TRY 3.0476, though it did reach as low as TRY 2.90 before the coup attempt.

“Mr. Market woke from the weekend and decided that Turkey's failed coup was a domestic affair which will blow over quite fast,” noted Societe Generale global fixed income strategist Kit Juckes.

“Turkey's still too dependent on foreign funding for comfort and the lira bounce can't go that much further, but the broader market implications are limited.”

In Australia, the S&P/ASX 200 finished up 0.53% at 5,458.50, with most subindexes finishing in the black.

Materials dragged, however, closing down 0.13% with major miners lagging behind - BHP Billiton lost 0.74%, Fortescue Metals was down 2.6% and Rio Tinto fell 0.81%.

In New Zealand, the S&P/NZX 50 added 0.46% to 7,105.95.

On the currencies front, the yen was last 0.69% weaker against the greenback at JPY 105.6 per $1, with the down under dollars were mixed - the Aussie was 0.17% stronger at AUD 1.3175, while the Kiwi weakened by 0.19% at NZS 1.4084.