Investing.com - Shares in Asia gained on Monday in thin holiday trade as China markets re-opened after a week-long break and investors largely shrugged off a shrill debate between U.S. presidential contenders Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump.
Stocks in China rose even though tightening measures for the housing market caused the property sector to fall more than 2%. The Shanghai Composite Index gained 0.86%. Hong Kong's stock market was closed for a holiday.
The S&P/ASX 200 rose 0.14%. Markets in Japan and Taiwan were also shut regionally on Monday. Canadian markets are also shut.
The yuan was sharply lower against the dollar on Monday at 6.7015 after the People's Bank of China weakened the fixing to the lowest since September 2010 in the first trading Sept. 30 before the week-long National Day holiday.
U.S. stocks were lower after the close on Friday, as losses in the Basic Materials, Industrials and Oil & Gas sectors led shares lower.
At the close in NYSE, the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 0.15%, while the S&P 500 index fell 0.33%, and the NASDAQ Composite index lost 0.27%.