Hong Kong and Shanghai were 0.3% higher, Seoul also gained 0.3%, Singapore added 0.1%, while Wellington was up 0.1%

Asian markets rose on Monday, with Tokyo up nearly 2% after Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba’s decision to resign pushed down the value of the yen.

Investors were also digesting weak US jobs data, while crude prices jumped after eight key members of the Opec+ alliance said that they had agreed to again boost oil production.

A combination of weak US labour market data coupled with rising political uncertainty in Japan dominated global markets as we started the week in Asia, Michael Wan at MUFG said in a note.

Nikkei index added 1.9%, with Japanese exporters benefiting from a decline in the yen’s value, one US dollar bought 148.14 yen in morning trade, up from 147.07 yen on Friday.

Japanese bond yields also jumped after Ishiba said on Sunday that he would step down after less than a year in power, heralding fresh uncertainty for the world’s fourth-largest economy.

I don’t think we can say that the resignation of PM Ishiba is a complete surprise, as it’s been mooted for some time, but the timing of the announcement is certainly unexpected, said Michael Brown, senior research strategist at Pepperstone.

As for the market reaction, this obviously introduces significant downside risks for the (Japanese yen) and for long-end Japanese government bonds (JGBs), he added.

Last week, the yield on 30-year JGBs hit a record high, following rises in the US and Europe on the back of concerns about political uncertainty and public finances.

Hong Kong and Shanghai were 0.3% higher in morning trade, with Taipei up 0.5% and Seoul also gaining 0.3%.

Singapore added 0.1% and Wellington was up 0.1%, but Sydney dropped 0.3%.

Last week’s US jobs data has firmed expectations of a US Federal Reserve interest rate cut later this month.

In Asia, rising expectations of Fed rate cuts and with that lower US yields should be a welcome development to some extent, providing some breathing space and policy room for Asian central banks, said Wan.

He added: Nonetheless, the key risk for Asian currencies would also lie in a sharp US slowdown and hard-landing recession through sharply slower exports to the US, which we stress is not our base case.