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Asian Shares Mostly Higher Ahead Of Busy Week

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Asian stocks were mixed on Monday, with renewed concerns about the spread of the coronavirus keeping underlying sentiment cautious ahead of a busy week on the economic calendar.

Minutes of the Federal Reserve's December meeting will be released on Wednesday as investors look for fresh guidance on its asset purchases.

A raft of manufacturing and service surveys across the globe as well as the closely-watched U.S. December payroll report may provide further clues on the pace of economic recovery.

Investors are also cautiously watching runoff elections in Georgia for two U.S. Senate seats on Tuesday that will determine control of the upper chamber of Congress.

On the coronavirus front, the overall number of global coronavirus cases has surpassed the 85 million mark, with U.S. daily cases soaring to a record of nearly 300,000 after the New Year holiday.

The U.K. is preparing to give the first shots of AstraZeneca's vaccine today, in a race against a faster-spreading variant that's prompted new lockdowns across much of the country.

China's Shanghai Composite index was up 0.3 percent. A business survey showed the pace of expansion in China's factory sector moderated in December amid increasing cost pressures.

The Caixin/Markit Manufacturing Purchasing Managers' Index (PMI) dropped to 53.0 from November's 54.9. An official gauge of factory activity, focusing more on larger and state-owned firms, also moderated but remained strong.

Hong Kong's Hang Seng index was moving up 0.4 percent. Beijing threatened retaliation in response to the New York Stock Exchange's announcement that it would delist three major Chinese telecoms, in the latest flare-up of tensions between Beijing and Washington.

Japan's Nikkei index dropped about half a percent and the yen strengthened after reports suggested that the Japanese government was considering a state of emergency for capital Tokyo and three surrounding prefectures.

The downside was capped after a survey showed Japan's factory activity stabilized for the first time in two years in December.

Australia's benchmark S&P/ASX 200 climbed as much as 1.4 percent, with banks and miners leading the surge despite rising Covid-19 cases in NSW and Victoria.

South Korea's Kospi was up 1.8 percent, breaking the 2,900 threshold for the first time ever on bets of a swifter economic recovery.

Gold hovered near eight-week high, aided by a weaker dollar, while oil prices rose despite OPEC+ warning of risks to the oil market from the resurgent pandemic.

The alliance of producers led by Saudi Arabia and Russia will decide today whether it can continue to restore crude supplies without capsizing the price recovery.

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