Asian stocks keep moderate gains, Brexit, Yellen eyed

After having witnessed the best daily gains in three months, the Asian equity markets opened on a mixed note, before recovering yesterday’s momentum somewhat, as hopes of Bremain still persists, despite the latest mixed opinion polls on the EU referendum that refuelled Brexit fears.

A YouGov poll for the Times newspaper published late on Monday showing “Leave” at 44% and 42% for “Remain,” while a survey by ORB for the Daily Telegraph had “Remain” at 53% and “Leave” at 46%.

Moreover, renewed weakness across the commodities’ space also weighed on the resource, energy and mining stocks, which kept the upside limited on the Asian indices.

Brexit in focus

The Japanese benchmark index, the Nikkei 225 bounces +0.35% to 16,026, while USD/JPY trades modestly flat near 104 levels. The Australian markets trade marginally higher, with the ASX 200 index up +0.10% at 5,260.

While the Chinese equities also followed suit, with the benchmark Shanghai Composite index up +0.28% below 2,900 levels, the CSI300 index gains 0.44%.. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng advances +0.35% to 20,580.