Asian Shares Rally As Tech Stocks Rebound

Asian stocks followed Wall Street higher on Monday as tech stocks rebounded from recent string of losses. Investors shrugged off data showing that China’s manufacturing sector expanded at a slower pace in January amid Covid-19 outbreaks in the country.

Chinese and South Korean markets were closed for the Lunar New Year holiday. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng iIndex jumped 1.1 percent to close at 23,802.26, with technology stocks leading gains. Hong Kong markets will be closed from February 1 to February 3 and will resume on February 4.

Japanese shares rallied after Prime Minister Fumio Kishida said he is not yet considering declaring a state of emergency for Tokyo over a recent spike in novel coronavirus cases.

The Nikkei 225 Index jumped 284.64 points, or 1.1 percent, to 27,001.98, with chipmakers, Sony and SoftBank Group leading the gainers. The broader Topix closed 1 percent higher at 1,895.93.

Alps Alpine, the maker of car navigation systems, soared 17.4 percent after raising its annual operating profit forecast. Transport company Mitsui OSK Lines spiked 9.6 percent after reporting earnings.

Japan’s factory output shrank for the first time in three months in December, while retail sales posted their third straight month of year-on-year gains in December, data released earlier in the day showed.

Australian markets fell slightly as investors awaited cues from the Reserve Bank of Australia meeting on Tuesday. The central bank is expected to end its extraordinary monetary stimulus, upgrade its economic forecasts and potentially bring forward its interest-rate guidance in its first policy meeting of the year.

The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 Index dipped 16.50 points, or 0.2 percent, to 6,971.60, while the broader All Ordinaries Index finished marginally higher at 7,268.30.

Banks and miners led the losses. Banks Westpac, NAB and ANZ tumbled 2-3 percent, while mining heavyweights BHP and Rio Tinto dropped 1.2 percent and 1.9 percent, respectively. Tech shares bucked the weak trend, with Xero and Wisetech Global climbing 3-5 percent.

New Zealand shares rebounded from a 15-month low, with the benchmark NZX-50 Index ending up 37.25 points, or 0.3 percent, at 11,889.40. Vista Group International shares soared 4.5 percent, while Pushpay Holdings and Pacific Edge fell 3-4 percent.

U.S. stocks reversed early losses to end sharply higher on Friday as Apple and Visa reported strong quarterly results and weaker-than-expected consumer spending and labor cost readings helped ease inflation fears.

The S&P 500 jumped 2.4 percent, marking its biggest single-day gain since June 2020, and the Dow surged 1.7 percent, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite soared 3.1 percent.

Source: Read Full Article