SYDNEY, Australia – Stocks were mixed on Monday, the first day of the new trading week.

In Japan, the Nikkei 225 rose 110.67 points or 0.47% to 23,850.57.

China’s Shanghai Composite strengthened by 23.28 points or 0.75% to 3,115.57.

The Australian All Ordinaries, going against the trend, shed 21.70 points or 0.31% to 7,020.20.

The U.S. dollar was mixed. The big mover was the British pound which dropped sharply in the Asian zone, to a low of 1.2994.

In early trading in Europe the pound had recovered slightly to be trading at 1.3007. The euro remained weak, but well supported above the 1.1100 handle. It last traded at 1.1129.

The Japanese yen was lower at 109.64. The Swiss franc inched down to 0.9729.

The Canadian dollar rose a few basis points to 1.3056. The Australian dollar was stronger at 0.6914, whereas the New Zealand dollar slipped to 0.6647.