Asian markets close day with gains amid Delta variant worries

By Aysu Bicer

ANKARA (AA) - Major stock markets in Asia and Europe closed with gains on Monday amid concerns around a surge in the Delta variant of the coronavirus.

The Asia Dow, which includes blue-chip companies in the region, was up 1.52% or 56.91 points to close at 3,799.39.

Tokyo's Nikkei 225 stock exchange gained 481 points or 1.78% to close at 27,4994.24 points.

Over the past week, there has been an increase in the number of Delta variant COVID-19 cases, particularly in Japan.

The Hang Seng, the benchmark for blue-chip stocks trading on the Hong Kong stock exchange, rose 1.05% or 259.87 points to 25,109.59.

China's Shanghai stock exchange was up 1.45% or 49.80 points to 3,477.13.

- Europe

The STOXX Europe 600, which includes around 90% of the market capitalization of the European market in 17 countries, was up 0.33 % to 470.36 as of 0940GMT.

Germany's DAX 30 was up 0.12% to 15,827.60, while Spain's IBEX 35 increased 0.18% to 8,931.00.

London's FTSE 100 rose 0.37%, trading at 7,114.42 points.

The French CAC 40 saw an 0.72% increase, standing at 6,673.84, while Italy's FTSE MIB was up 0.31% to 25,998.26 points.