Share prices in Asia bounced back Monday from last week's retreat, with mainland Chinese indexes gaining more than 3% as data showed progress in restoring factory output after weeks of disruptions from the viral outbreak, AP reported. Japan's Nikkei 225 index recovered from early losses, gaining 1% to 21,345.54 after the Bank of Japan promised to step in to support the economy. The Shanghai Composite index rose 3.1% to 2,969.57. The benchmark for the smaller exchange, in Shenzhen, jumped 3.4%, while South Korea's Kospi climbed 1% to 2,006.63. The Hang Seng in Hong Kong jumped 0.8% to 26,345.77 and India's Sensex advanced 1.6% to 38,909.43. Crude oil prices rebounded Monday. U.S. benchmark crude gained 2.7%, or $1.22 to $45.98 per barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Brent crude, the international standard, jumped $1.51 to $51.18 per barrel. Gold, another safe haven for investors, jumped $38.90 to $1,605.60 per ounce, silver picked up 57 cents to $17.04 per ounce and copper fell 3 cents to $2.55 per pound. The dollar rose to 108.15 Japanese yen from 108.07 yen on Friday. The euro strengthened to $1.1047 from $1.1027.
