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Summary Asian shares opened higher on Monday, after US lawmakers agreed on a deal to raise the debt limit.
After a tense weekend in which rival plans to lift the U.S. borrowing limit were shot down in Congress, U.S. President Barack Obama said leaders from both parties reached a deal to cut the budget deficit by 1 trillion US dollars over 10 years, with additional savings of 1.4 trillion US dollars possible.Obama announced the last-minute deal late on Sunday, and he urged lawmakers to do the right thing and approve the agreement.Hong Kongs Hang Seng was up 1.5 percent, led by a 1.8 percent rise in HSBC after Europes largest bank said it would sell nearly half of its underperforming U.S. branch network. The benchmark index had closed out a choppy July on Friday (July 29), ending little changed on the month at 22,440.3.Seoul shares opened higher on Monday (August 1), with refiners such as SK Innovation rebounding after recent falls. KB Financial Group rose 1.5 percent after it reported on Friday, that it had swung to a net profit in the second quarter.The Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) gained 1.24 percent to 2,159.56 points as of 0007GMT.The U.S. dollar index , which measures its value against a basket of six other major currencies, was largely unchanged on the day.
