In Tokyo, the Japanese index saw choppy trade after opening lower in

In Tokyo, the Japanese index saw choppy trade after opening lower in the wake of the yen’s rise to a fresh post-war high against the dollar last week.

The Nikkei index was up 0.01 percent, or 0.49 points at 8,719.73 while the Topix index was down 0.19 percent, or 1.40 points, at 750.29.

Dealers said the Japanese stock market will be swayed by the yen’s movement against the dollar, as the pair is under close scrutiny amid speculation the government will intervene to weaken the Japanese unit.

The safe-haven yen’s strength, seen as a reflection of weak global risk appetite, encourages selling of exporter shares who see repatriated profits eroded by a strong domestic unit.

“At this level, we will still see funds flowing out of exporters and into domestic demand-related stocks,” Takuya Yamada,senior portfolio manager at ITC Investment Partners, told Dow Jones Newswires.

In Hong Kong shares gained 0.63 percent at Monday’s opening, as Asian markets stabilized after a deep selloff around the world last week.

In initial trading, the Hang Seng Index gained 121.51 points to 19,521.43.

Chinese shares were also up with the Shanghai Composite Index up 8.68 points at 2,543.04.

In Seoul, South Korean shares opened 0.67 percent higher in a rebound from Friday’s market fall.

Samsung Electronics, the world’s largest maker of memory chips, gained 1.03 percent and the country’s top carmaker Hyundai Motor rose 1.76 percent immediately after the open.t 1,756.59 on purchases by foreign investors.

Source AFP