Asian markets rose Monday as news of U.S. President Donald Trump’s continued recovery from his COVID-19 infection appeared to calm nervous investors. Japan’s benchmark Nikkei index closed 1.2% higher. The S&P/ASX index in Australia soared 2.5%. South Korea’s KOSPI index finished 1.2%, and the TSEC index in Taiwan ended 0.2% higher. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index is 1.3% higher in late afternoon trading, while Mumbai’s Sensex is up 0.8%. Shanghai’s Composite index is closed for a national holiday. In commodities trading, gold is selling at $1,892.90 an ounce, down 0.7%. U.S. crude oil is trading at $37.65 per barrel, up 1.6%, and Brent crude oil is trading at $39.85 per barrel, up 1.4%. The 74-year-old U.S. president was flown to Walter Reed Military Medical Center near Washington last Friday after announcing he contracted the disease, but his doctors say he is responding well to treatment and could return to the White House on Monday. All three major U.S. indices are trending higher in futures trading.
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