06:52 AM EDT, 05/05/2025 (MT Newswires) -- Foreign exchange rates and international trade outlooks churned Asian stock markets on Monday in holiday-thinned trading.

Exchanges in Hong Kong, Shanghai, Tokyo, Seoul, and Bangkok were shuttered on holiday.

Taiwan's broad TWSE index lost 1.2% on Monday after media reports that Taiwan trade negotiators had discussed currency exchange rates with US counterparts.

The Taiwan dollar has appreciated by more than 13% against the US dollar since the start of April, undercutting shares of the nation's export-oriented industries.

On the other regional exchanges, the Australian ASX 200 declined 1%; the Singapore Straits Times Index rose 0.2%, and in late trading in Mumbai, the Sensex was up 0.4%.

Indian shares gained on lower global crude prices and reports of progress in Washington-New Delhi trade talks.

In other news, boosted by strong new orders, the Philippines' manufacturing purchasing managers index (PMI) struck 53.0 in April, up from 49.4 in March, and logging above the 50-mark that separates growth from contraction, reported S&P Global, late last week.

Undercut by faltering orders, the Thailand manufacturing PMI fell to 49.5 in April, down from 49.9 in March, reported S&P Global.