Asian stocks advanced on Tuesday with Japan’s Nikkei leading the charge, riding a tech rally and making the most of a post-holiday bump.
The yen was on the back foot, giving a welcome boost to Japan’s exporters, while China and Hong Kong stocks also scratched out some gains despite the gloomy outlook for the world’s No2 economy.
Japan’s Nikkei share average surged as traders returned after a public holiday and the Nikkei jumped 3.45%, or 1,207.51 points, to close at 36,232.51, while the broader Topix was ahead 2.83%, or 70.25 points, to 2,553.55.
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Chip-making equipment giant Tokyo Electron led the Nikkei gainers by index points with a 6.2% leap. Chip-testing machine manufacturer Advantest was next, advancing 7.7%.
Major exporters Sony Group and Toyota Motor rose 5% and 3.3%, respectively. A weaker yen inflates the value of overseas sales when repatriated.
China stocks edged ahead in thin trade amid subdued sentiment, due to sluggish economic recovery and limited stimulus support, even as regional markets rebounded strongly.
Investors are also waiting on US producer and consumer prices numbers due on Tuesday and Wednesday, respectively, as well as a global central bankers’ meeting in Jackson Hole, Wyoming.
China will also release a flurry of indicators this week, including credit and economic activity data, which is likely to show that the economy got off to a weak start in the second half of the year.
China reported weaker-than-expected second-quarter economic growth last week, and recent economic indicators also didn’t show big improvement.
The Shanghai Composite Index rose 0.34%, or 9.74 points, to 2,867.95, while the Shenzhen Composite Index on China’s second exchange was up 0.50%, or 7.78 points, to 1,554.35.
China’s blue-chip CSI300 index was up 0.26% with, earlier in the season, its financial sector sub-index up 0.25%, the consumer staples sector down 1.26%, the real estate index down 0.89% and the healthcare sub-index down 1.43%.
Chinese H-shares listed in Hong Kong – stocks belonging to companies from the Chinese mainland – rose 0.09% to 6,035.29, while the Hang Seng Index gained 0.36%, or 62.41 points, to 17,174.06.
Soft US Payrolls Data
Elsewhere across the region, in earlier trade, Sydney, Bangkok, Seoul, Taipei Singapore, Wellington, Manila and Jakarta also rose but Mumbai slipped. MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan rose 0.15%.
European stock markets were due for a higher open, with the Eurostoxx 50 futures up 0.3%.
Data this week will help sharpen views on the Federal Reserve’s next moves. Markets are evenly split between a 25 basis-point cut or a 50-bp cut at the next meeting in September. Traders are pricing in 100 bps of cuts this year.
Surprisingly soft payrolls data stoked US recession worries and kicked off the market meltdown at the start of last week. But strong US data helped allay fears of a global slowdown, and stocks recovered by the end of the week.
US producer price data for July is due later on Tuesday. The figures could feed through to the core personal consumption (PCE) measure favoured by the Fed.
On Wednesday, US consumer price index data for July is due and is expected to show that month-on-month inflation ticked up to 0.2%. Retail sales data is scheduled for Thursday.
In commodities, futures eased 0.67% to $81.75 a barrel, while US West Texas Intermediate crude futures slipped to $79.59 a barrel, down 0.59%. Brent had gained more than 3% on Monday, while futures had risen more than 4%.
Key figures
Tokyo – Nikkei 225 > UP 3.45% at 36,232.51 (close)
Hong Kong – Hang Seng Index > UP 0.36% at 17,174.06 (close)
Shanghai – Composite > UP 0.34% at 2,867.95 (close)
London – FTSE 100 < DOWN 0.11% at 8,201.20 (0933 BST)
New York – Dow < DOWN 0.36% at 39,357.01 (Monday close)
- Reuters with additional editing by Sean O’Meara
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