HONG KONG (AFP) – Markets rose yesterday after a broadly positive day on Wall Street, with focus turning to the upcoming release of tech giant Nvidia’s earnings, while traders also kept tabs on United States (US) president-elect Donald Trump’s picks for his new administration.
Hong Kong and Shanghai were among the better performers in early action on hopes that China will unveil more stimulus after a raft of measures at the end of September aimed at kickstarting the economy, with an eye on the property sector.
Equities have seen big swings since Trump’s election at the start of the month, with optimism over pledged tax cuts and deregulation offset by worries they could also reignite inflation, along with threatened import tariffs.
That has also given a headache to policymakers at the Federal Reserve who are still fighting to bring prices under control, with market-watchers saying investors are scaling back their bets on how many more interest rate cuts they will announce.
Still, an advance for the S&P 500 and Nasdaq, helped by an easing of US Treasury yields, provided a boost after a tough run last week.
Hong Kong extended Monday’s gains and Shanghai bounced back on hopes China will push more support for the economy.
Tokyo also recovered from a soft start to the week, while Sydney, Seoul, Singapore, Mumbai, Bangkok, Jakarta, Taipei, Wellington and Manila also gained.
London and Paris opened higher, though Frankfurt slipped.
