Stocks in Asia Rally; Energy Shares Advance

Asian stocks are gaining that gave boost to global equities as markets across the region climbed, with energy shares leading the advance.

- MSCI Asia Pacific Index up by 1.2% to 119.98 as of 5:12 p.m. in Tokyo, Japan.
- Japan’s Topix index up by 1.3%
- South Korea’s Kospi index climbed 0.7%
- New Zealand’s benchmark up by 0.9%
- Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 Index increased by 1.8%
- Shanghai Composite Index up by 0.8%
- Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index are up by 1.4%
- Mainland shares up by 0.8%
- Standard & Poor’s 500 Index slid 0.2%
- Cnooc Ltd., China’s largest offshore oil company, jumped 4.8%
- Santos Ltd. increase by 4.2% in Sydney
- Japan’s Inpex Corp. gained 3.3%
- West Texas Intermediate slide by 2.5% to $31.40 a barrel

China shares are Up on reform plans

China and Hong Kong stocks soared Monday thanks to Beijing's promises to go ahead and implement a broad range of capital market reforms and a surging commodities sector. However, other markets are subdued after a record close for the Dow Jones industrial average.

China's Shanghai Composite Index rose by 2.1% to 2,052.87 which is its highest close since April 24. China announced late Friday that they will let local governments to issue bonds and will hasten the approval process for initial public stock offerings. The news also lifts the Hong Kong's market with the Hang Seng up 1.8 percent to 22,261.61.

Nickel companies rose sharply after the nickel futures index jumped to its highest since February 2012 on supply concerns. Investors and consumers are buying the metal on prospects of a worsening supply shortfall later in the year.

Other markets were more subdued despite a rebound in U.S. tech stocks which pushed the Dow to a record close on Friday. Tensions between the West and Russia over the future of Ukraine continue to provide a negative backdrop for investment sentiment.

Weibo (China's Twitter) Underperformed in US IPO

Chinese micro-blogging platform like Twitter underperformed and sells fewer shares than expected. Weibo raised $286 million in its initial public offering in New York. The IPO launch for Weibo, which boast more than 100 million active users, was seen as a litmus test to gauge the demand for Chinese Internet stocks ahead of a well anticipated Alibaba Group Holding Ltd. listing.

They sold 16.8 million shares, which is 3.2 million shares short ot the expected 20 million shares. It was sold at $17 apiece, which was at the bottom of the projected range of $17 to $19.

The offering comes in the middle of broad weakness in the U.S. IPO market and a month-long retreat in stock prices that include both Chinese and U.S. Internet companies like Twitter. Twitter shares have fallen 18% since at the start of March.