Asian shares were mixed Monday as investors digested the latest move by China to control interest rates.
China's central bank on Friday raised the amount of money banks must keep on reserve for the seventh time in a year. It ordered state-owned banks to set asde an additional 0.5 percent of deposits as reserves, effective Jan. 20.
Hong Kong's Hang Seng index slipped 0.3 percent to 24,214.97, the Shanghai Composite index lost 1.3 percent to 2,753.79, and Australia's S&P/ASX 200 fell 0.5 percent to 4,779.20.
Benchmarks in New Zealand and Taiwan also retreated Meanwhile, Japan's Nikkei 225 stock average rose 0.4 percent to 10,536.74 as banks benefited from a strong showing by U.S. financials before the weekend. Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group Inc., Japan's biggest bank, rose 0.7 percent.
The optimism was triggered by JPMorgan Chase & Co., which reported that its income soared 47 percent in the fourth quarter. The bank set aside less money to cover bad loans and said it expected to get permission from the Federal Reserve to raise its dividend.
South Korea's Kospi added 0.2 perent to 2,111.27 on strength in high-tech shares.
The Dow Jones industrial average gained 55.48 points, or 0.5 percent, to 11,787.38. The broader Standard & Poor's 500 index rose 9.48, or 0.7 percent, to 1,293.24.
The Nasdaq rose 20.01, or 0.7 percent, to 2,755.30. U.S. financial markets will be cosed Monday to observe the Martin Luther King Jr. Day holiday. In currencies, the dollar rose to 82.90 yen from 82.80 yen late Friday.
The euro stood at $1.3344 from $1.3385. Benchmark oil for February delivery fell 9 cents $91.45 a barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. The contract rose 14 cents to settle at $91.54 a barrel Friday.
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