HONG KONG: Asian markets mostly rose Monday after last week’s rally while oil prices extended gains, with investors keeping tabs on the Ukraine war as Turkey said Kyiv and Moscow were edging towards a ceasefire agreement.
Confidence remains at a premium owing to the crisis in eastern Europe — which threatens to deal a hefty blow to the global economy — as well as central bank monetary tightening measures.
Traders struggled to maintain the buying enthusiasm seen last week that was fuelled by bargain-buying and China’s pledge to support beaten-down markets and indicated a crackdown on the tech sector was nearing an end.
Hopes for an end to the war were given a boost Sunday when authorities in Turkey, where Russian and Ukrainian representatives have been negotiating, said the two sides were close to a deal to stop the fighting.
Meanwhile, Turkish presidential spokesman Ibrahim Kalin said the sides were negotiating six points: Ukraine’s neutrality, disarmament and security guarantees, the so-called “de-Nazification”, removal of obstacles on the use of the Russian language in Ukraine, the status of the breakaway Donbas region and the status of Crimea annexed by Russia in 2014.
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Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky also Sunday urged direct talks with Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin as the only way to end the war.
After a healthy performance on Wall Street on Friday, Asia was broadly higher, though with less conviction than last week.
