Hong Kong and mainland stocks rose on Monday as the nation's securities watchdog meets market participants to discuss market stability, official media said.

The China Securities Regulatory Commission has invited market participants to a meeting on Monday to listen to their proposals ⁠on how to promote stable and healthy development of ⁠the market, the official ⁠Securities Times reported.

In Hong Kong, the benchmark Hang Seng Index opened up 272 points, or 1.11 percent, at 24,835 and climbed further to be 484 points, or 1.97 percent, up at 25,046 at one stage in mid-morning trading.

The tech index was 101 points, or 2.2 percent, higher at 4,724 and the China Enterprises Index was up 116 points, or 1.43 percent, at 8,252.

Up north, the benchmark Shanghai Composite Index opened up 27 points, or 0.73 percent, at 3,791.

The Shenzhen Component Index opened 163 points, or 1.18 percent, higher at 13,869 while the ChiNext Index was up 2.2 percent at 3,504.

Brent crude climbed above US$90 a barrel for the first time in more than a month as the US military started a ninth straight day of attacks against Iran, which in turn struck targets across the region. Just a handful of ships transited the Strait of Hormuz on Sunday and one was reported to be on fire.

"The longer the strait remains closed and the war escalates the greater the risk that oil prices will have to rise to around US$150/barrel to bring demand down to match the hit to supply," said Shane Oliver, head of investment strategy at fund manager AMP. "This is not our base case but it's a high risk again."

Japan's Nikkei was closed for a holiday, having shed 6.4 percent last week in a tech-led rout. MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan dipped 0.3 percent.

In Seoul, the Kospi was 265 points, or 3.9 percent, lower at 6,554 after opening a sharp 177 points, or 2.6 percent, down at 6,643 as declines in major semiconductor makers added to worries over the escalating Middle East tensions. (Reuters & Xinhua)


Edited by Aaron Tam