Tokyo — Asian stocks edged up on Monday, taking cues from Wall Street shares hovering around record highs, while the pound nursed losses after a poll showed a shrinking lead for Prime Minister Theresa May’s party in Britain’s upcoming elections. MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan was a touch higher. Japan’s Nikkei edged up 0.2% while Australian shares dipped 0.4%. China’s markets are closed on Monday and Tuesday for a holiday. Brushing aside a North Korean missile launch, South Korea’s Kospi added 0.4% to touch a record high. It was on track for its seventh consecutive day of gains. Pyongyang fired what appeared to be a short-range ballistic missile early on Monday. "There are not many negative factors in the market for the Kospi, and demand seems still strong enough to push the index up a bit more," said Kim Ji-hyung, a stock analyst at Hanyang Securities. On Friday, the S&P 500 and Nasdaq scraped to record closing highs on strength in consumer shares. The d...
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