Investing.com - Shares in Shanghai gained further on Monday after China reshuffled the leadership of the stock market regulator at the weekend and risk sentiment improved.
The Shanghai Composite gained 2.04% at the open while the Nikkei 225 rose 0.80 and the S&P/ASX gained 0.98%.
On Saturday, China dismissed Chairman Xiao Gang from his post at the China Securities Regulatory Commission and replaced by Liu Shiyu, chairman of the Agricultural Bank of China, likely in response to the failure of the stock market's circuit breaker mechanism.
The move came as specualtion grows the People's Bank of China will seek a cut in the reserve requirement ratio (RRR) in the medium-term as daily short-term open market operations are seen as inadequate to stabilize market expectations.
Also on the weekend, China announced changes to its consumer price basket, lowering the weighting for food, tobacco and alcohol by 3.4 percentage points while increasing that of other goods to reflect new consumption patterns.
In the week ahead, investors will be looking to Friday’s revised data on U.S. fourth quarter gross domestic product for a fresh reading on the strength of the economy.
Reports on U.S. durable goods orders and consumer confidence will also be in focus.
On Monday, the euro zone is to release survey data on manufacturing and service sector activity. Germany and France are also to release individual reports.
Last week, U.S. stocks were mixed after the close on Friday, as gains in the Consumer Services, Technology and Financials sectors led shares higher while losses in the Basic Materials, Telecoms and Utilities sectors led shares lower.
At the close in NYSE, the Dow Jones Industrial Average declined 0.13%, while the S&P 500 index declined 0.01%, and the NASDAQ Composite index climbed 0.38%.