HONG KONG (Nikkei Markets) -- Asian stocks outside of Japan advanced on Monday after China's central bank took steps to limit the yuan's depreciation, even as an escalation in trade tensions between the U.S. and China clouded sentiment.
The Nikkei Asia300 Index added 0.4% to 1,312.88 following a 2.1% drop last week. The onshore traded yuan rose as much as 0.5% against the dollar in early trade after the People's Bank of China on Friday raised the reserve requirement on foreign exchange forward positions to 20%, upping the cost of betting against the currency. Rising tensions between the U.S. and China have driven the currency down more than 8% since the end of March.