Hong Kong shares soar 5%, leading Asian market gains | Sotck exchange

TOKYO (AP) — Hong Kong’s benchmark equity index climbed more than 5% on Wednesday as Asian stocks trailed gains on Wall Street.

New Zealand’s benchmark share rose 0.7% after its central bank raised its benchmark interest rate to 3.5%, saying inflation remained too high and labor work was rare. The half-point rate hike was the fifth in a row by the Reserve Bank of New Zealand since February.

Statistics New Zealand said inflation was 7.3% and unemployment 3.3%. The rate hike came on the same day the government announced its finances were in better shape than expected.

The Hang Seng in Hong Kong rose 5.3% to 17,988.86, catching up with gains elsewhere as markets reopened after a public holiday on Tuesday. Markets in mainland China remained closed for a public holiday.

Japan’s benchmark Nikkei 225 added 0.3% in morning trade to 27,079.49. Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 gained 1.5% to 6,797.80. Australian stocks rose after the Reserve Bank of Australia ordered an interest rate hike 25 basis points lower than expected on Tuesday.

South Korea’s Kospi added 0.6% in morning trade to 2,221.43.

Analysts said the latest inflation data from South Korea could prompt the Bank of Korea to raise interest rates at its scheduled meeting next week, but those hikes are expected to slow as inflation eases. mastered.

“We expect headline inflation to pick up again in October. Gasoline prices are likely to fall further, but the city’s gas and electricity rates were raised in early October and fuel prices fresh foods are likely to increase before winter,” said a report by Robert Carnell, regional head of Asia-Pacific research at ING.

On Wall Street, the Dow Jones Industrial Average climbed more than 2.8% to 30,316.32. The S&P 500 had its best day since May 2020 on Tuesday as the market recovered more of the ground it had lost in the past miserable weeks. It jumped 3.1% to 3,790.93.

Twitter jumped 22.2% after Elon Musk said he would go ahead with his $44 billion acquisition of the social media company, abandoning efforts to exit the deal.

The Nasdaq composite climbed 3.3% to 11,176.41. Smaller company stocks also made strong gains, pushing the Russell 2000 up 3.9% to 1,775.77.

The two-day rally hit markets as investors look for signs central banks may ease aggressive rate hikes aimed at tackling the highest inflation in four decades. central bank of australia makes an interest rate hike lower than the previous ones.

In the United States, a government report on Jobs showed that the number of jobs available in the United States fell in August compared to July. It’s a sign that companies could further reduce hiring and potentially calm chronically high inflation, which could allow the Federal Reserve to slow the pace of rate hikes.

Investors are watching closely as central banks raise interest rates to make borrowing harder and slow economic growth in an attempt to tame inflation. Investors are hoping they will eventually ease their aggressive rate hikes and the Australian central bank’s move is a hopeful sign for some.

Investors worry that rate hikes, especially those by the Fed, will go too far in slowing growth and pushing economies into recession. The Fed has already pushed its main overnight interest rate to a range of 3% to 3.25%, from virtually zero as recently as March.

Economic growth is already slowing globally and the US economy contracted in the first two quarters of the year, which is seen as an informal signal of recession.

Wall Street will get a more detailed look at the job situation in the United States this week, with a report on hiring by private companies due out on Wednesday, the latest tally of weekly jobless claims on Thursday and the government’s monthly employment report for September on Friday.

In energy trading, benchmark U.S. crude fell 34 cents to $86.18 a barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. It jumped $2.89 to 86.52 on Tuesday. Brent crude, the international price standard, fell 30 cents to $91.60 a barrel.

In currency trading, the US dollar was virtually unchanged at 144.12 Japanese yen. The euro cost 99.72 cents, down from 99.87 cents.


Damian J. Troise, Alex Veiga and Nick Perry contributed to this report.

Yuri Kageyama is on Twitter https://twitter.com/yurikageyama

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