Australia

Asian stocks rose overnight, driven higher by the Nikkei which reversed sharp losses on Friday after climbing over 2%.

Asian stocks have soared, led by Japan's Nikkei, as investor confidence was boosted by Tokyo winning the race to host the 2020 Olympics.

James Carver, manager of the SWIP Absolute Return Bond fund, is making a call on the Japanese currency strengthening against the euro as money continues flowing into Japan's equity market.

Newton's Jason Pidcock is maintaining an overweight to Australian equities in his Asian Income portfolio, despite the recent underperformance of the local currency against the US dollar.

George Soros has reportedly made £40m in a day through a short position on the Australian dollar.

Japan's main equity market surged to a five-year high on the first day of trading after the country's Golden Week public holiday.

INFRASTRUCTURE

Australia's central bank has cut its benchmark interest rate to 3% in order to counter a slowdown in its mining sector.

Shares in Standard & Poor's parent group McGraw-Hill have slumped after an Australian court ruled S&P's AAA ratings misled investors during the financial crisis.

Top UK equity income managers have been cutting their weighting in tobacco stocks as concerns over earnings momentum and new rules on plain packaging put pressure on share prices.