Asian markets are trading higher in the morning session on Monday following cues from Wall Street.Hang Seng Index rose 1.84 precent,up 346.15 points to 19,151.81 .Straits Times Index was up 0.31 percent 7.62 points to 2,438.58.Korean benchmark index KOSPI up 31.34 points, 2.18 percent at 1,471.44.Shanghai Composite Index was up 0.87 percent 27.67 points to 3,217.41.

Wall Street closed flat on Friday,Dow Jones industrial average was up 0.37 percent,up 32.12 points to 8,743.94. The broad Standard & Poor's 500 index was down 0.36 points, down 0.04 percent, to 940.38.Nasdaq composite index gained 1.58 points,up 0.08 percent, to 1,886.61.

FTSE 100 index ended up 0.62 percent up 26.91 points to 4,388.75,Germany's DAX closed up 0.43 percent up 21.21 points to 4,978.40,France's CAC 40 up 0.59 percent up 18.78 points to 3,218.46.

Oil prices gained more than 2 percent to settle above $63 on Friday,U.S. light crude oil for August delivery $1.54 to settle at $63.56 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange.London Brent crude for September gained $1.63 to settle at $65.38 a barrel.Gold was up 0.22 percent up $2 to settle at $938 an ounce.U.S. dollar and the yen both slipped on Monday.
Monday,20 July 2009