Asia Shares Mostly Up after Yellen Speech

Asian markets mostly rose Monday, while the dollar hit multi-month highs against the yen and euro after the head of the U.S. Federal Reserve seemed to indicate a shift towards a hike in interest rates sooner than expected.

While Janet Yellen's speech Friday said slackness in the jobs market would likely staunch inflation, investors noted her acknowledgement of calls for an early rate rise that analysts said may suggest she is thinking of such a move.

Tokyo climbed 0.28 percent, or 74.06 points, to 15,613.25 and Seoul put on 0.20 percent, or 4.19 points, to end at 2,060.89, while in the afternoon Hong Kong gained 0.21 percent.

However, Sydney shed 0.19 percent, or 10.7 points, to 5,634.9 and Shanghai dipped 0.51 percent, or 11.54 points, to 2,229.27.

Speaking at the Fed's annual symposium in Jackson Hole, Wyoming, Yellen said even if unemployment has fallen more quickly than expected to 6.2 percent, there remains "considerable uncertainty about the level of employment".

That signaled her commitment to the Fed's timetable for hiking rates late next year, rather than earlier as some analysts and policy makers would like.

However, Junichi Ishikawa, market analyst at IG Securities in Tokyo, told Dow Jones Newswires: "Her comments at Jackson Hole were balanced, and took into consideration the positions of the more hawkish members of the Fed."

And Kathleen Brooks at Forex.com said dealers took account of the uncertainty surrounding labour market indicators Yellen mentioned in her speech. "The market seems to perceive this indecision to be a subtle shift away from the ultra-dovish stance Yellen has taken in the past," she said.

Yellen's comments pushed the dollar above 104 yen for the first time since April and to the strongest level since January.

In afternoon Tokyo trade the greenback bought 104.17 yen compared with 103.87 yen in New York Friday.

But the Dow eased 0.22 percent and the S&P 500 shed 0.20 percent. The Nasdaq added 0.14 percent.

The euro was at $1.3197 -- around 11-month highs -- and 137.47 yen, against $1.3241 and 137.60 yen.

On oil markets U.S. benchmark West Texas Intermediate for October eased 16 cents to $93.49 while Brent crude for October tumbled 19 cents to $102.10.

Gold traded at $1,277.11 an ounce at 0700 GMT compared to $1,281.40 an ounce late Friday.

In other markets:

-- Taipei edged up 0.11 percent, or 10.52 points, to 9,390.62.

Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co was 0.4 percent lower at Tw$125.0 while Hon Hai Precision was up 0.45 percent at Tw$110.5.

-- Wellington rose 0.30 percent, or 15.75 points, to 5,182.74.

Air New Zealand was up 1.41 percent at NZ$2.16 and Trade Me lifted 1.09 percent to NZ$3.72.

-- Manila was closed for a public holiday.