London, UK (BBN)– Asian shares rallied on Monday on the latest British opinion surveys showing a resurgence of the vote to remain part of the European Union.
The British pound also was higher, gaining 1.4 per cent to the US dollar and 1.9 per cent to the Japanese yen, reports BBC.
Global markets were hit last week by nervousness ahead of Britain’s June 23 vote on whether to leave the EU.
Japanese shares have kicked off the week’s trading with strong gains despite a setback in exports.
The country’s benchmark Nikkei 225 index was up by 2.2 per cent to 15,943.76.
New Japanese government data showed that exports in May fell 11.3 per cent compared with a year earlier.
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The main factor expected to dominate trading sentiment in the coming days remains the British EU referendum.
“More volatility is likely this week,” wrote Margaret Yang, analyst with CMC markets in Singapore.
“The entire market is now focused on the UK’s EU referendum result.”
Other stock markets in the region also saw strong gains at the start of trading on Monday.
South Korea’s Kospi was up by 1.2 per cent to 1,977.45 points while Australia’s ASX 200 was 1.1 per cent higher at 5,217.10.
While mainland China’s Shanghai Composite was slightly lower, 0.4 per cent down at 2,872.32, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng followed the rest of the region higher, gaining 0.7 per cent to 20,316.17 points.
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