HONG KONG (AFP) – Equities rose across Asia yesterday following another record day on Wall Street, with traders also cheered by data suggesting China’s economic malaise is showing signs of easing.
The positive start to the week was not felt in the euro, however, as a budget standoff in France fuelled concerns about the fragile government of the eurozone’s second-biggest economy.
Traders began the month on the front foot after a rollercoaster ride since Donald Trump’s re-election.
They took their cue from New York, where the Dow and S&P 500 both ended at record highs in a holiday-shortened session.
Hong Kong and Shanghai were among the best performers after data showed Chinese manufacturing activity expanded at a faster clip than expected in November.
The purchasing managers index figures provided some hope that the world’s number-two economy was turning a corner after a long-running slowdown, with analysts pointing to a raft of support measures unveiled at the end of September.
“The last two months of PMI data offered early signs of green shoots following the recent policy pivot and subsequent stimulus programmes,” said Anna Zhou and Helen Qiao at Bank of America Global Research.
“We expect policymakers to step up easing measures next year, including the continuation of the equipment upgrade and consumer goods subsidy programmes, which should help support the manufacturing sector amid deteriorating external demand.”
Some commentators also pointed to optimism that Trump could take a more pragmatic approach to tariffs, with Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum saying after a phone call with the Republican, “There will not be a potential tariff war.”
Still, investors were keeping a wary eye on developments as the US president-elect puts his Cabinet together.
“Advanced Northeast Asian economies consistently run merchandise trade surpluses with the US,” said analysts at Moody’s Analytics.
There were also gains yesterday in Sydney, Mumbai, Singapore, Manila and Bangkok.
Tokyo rose as the yen held recent gains around 150 per dollar, as bets increase on a Bank of Japan (BoJ) interest rate hike after last week’s forecast-topping Tokyo inflation report.
BoJ Governor Kazuo Ueda said in an interview with the Nikkei published on Sunday that increases were “nearing in the sense that economic data are on track”.
The euro remained stuck around 14-month lows on concerns about the budget standoff in Paris.
France’s far-right leader Marine Le Pen said in a Sunday newspaper that her party would not necessarily vote to topple Prime Minister Michel Barnier’s government – so long as he agreed to negotiate.
Le Pen’s parliamentary bloc holds the key to the survival of Barnier’s minority centre-right administration, appointed by President Emmanuel Macron in the wake of snap parliamentary elections.
In an interview with La Tribune Dimanche, National Rally chief Le Pen insisted that her position was to “remain constructive” with a flashpoint budget vote looming.
But if Barnier refused to negotiate with her party, he would have taken the “decision to trigger the vote of no confidence” himself, she said.
