Asian stocks rise, in an orphan session of the Shanghai, Hong Kong and Seoul stock exchanges, closed for holidays.
The Nikkei 225 index on the Tokyo stock exchange posted a gain of around 1%, after rumors that the government is ready to further ease the restrictions imposed on the entry of foreign tourists to Japan in an attempt to stem the Covid infections, allowing individual tourists to enter the country (for now, only groups of tourists are allowed). Stocks in the air and travel sector such as those of Japan Airlines, Ana Holdings, and of the travel agencies HIS and AirTrip were up.
There is also news of further restrictions on chip exports to China that the US Commerce Department intends to impose on semiconductor giants. The restrictions are aimed at exports of components for making chips to those Chinese factories that produce advanced semiconductors, according to the news agency Reuters.
The US department would have sent ad hoc letters to the American semiconductor giants KLA, Lam Research and Applied Materials already at the beginning of the year.
US futures hardly moved after the positive close of all three US stock indices on a weekly basis.
After three consecutive weeks of low, the Dow Jones gained 2.66% last week, the S&P 500 rose 3.65%. and the Nasdaq Composite jumped 4.14%.
US futures are currently not very moving, fluctuating around parity.