Asian stocks rise following a rally on Wall Street | Economic news

By ELAINE KURTENBACH, AP Business Writer

Asian stocks were mostly higher on Tuesday after U.S. stocks turned from steep losses to post solid gains.

Tokyo, Hong Kong and Seoul advanced while Sydney fell.

Shanghai retreated on renewed concerns over pandemic shutdowns that could further weigh on the world’s second-largest economy and hamper global economic growth.

The Shanghai Composite Index fell 0.9% to 2902.46, giving up early gains. On Monday, it fell 5.1%.

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China’s capital, Beijing, has started mass testing of more than 3 million people and restricted residents of part of the city to their compounds, raising concerns about a wider lockdown similar to Shanghai. This city has been closed for more than two weeks and this has already prompted the International Monetary Fund to revise downwards its growth forecasts for the Chinese economy.

Hong Kong’s Hang Seng, which lost 3.7% on Monday, was trading up 0.7% at 20,000.69.

The Kospi in Seoul gained 0.5% to 2,669.41 after the government announced that South Korea’s economy grew at an annual rate of 3.1% in the first quarter of the year, up from 0.7% compared to the previous quarter.

Economy rebounds from pandemic woes as government lifts COVID restrictions as case numbers dwindle after surge of omicron variant.

“This should lead to a rebound in downtrodden parts of the service sector. And a further decline in precautionary savings should provide an additional boost to consumption,” Alex Holmes of Capital Economics said in a commentary. “With private consumption still well below pre-pandemic levels, there’s plenty of room for a rebound,” he said.

In Tokyo, the Nikkei 225 rose 0.4% to 26,700.11 and India’s Sensex gained 1.2% to 57,254.49.

Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 fell 1.9% to 7,331.30.

WE. Benchmark oil gained 92 cents to $99.46 a barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. It lost $3.53 to $98.54 on Monday.

Brent crude, the standard for international oil pricing, gained 1.23 cents to $103.39 a barrel.

The dollar slipped to 127.89 Japanese yen from 128.14 yen on Monday night. The euro fell from $1.0713 to $1.0727.

On Monday, the S&P 500 climbed 0.6% to 4,296.12 after erasing an early 1.7% loss. The rally was led by shares of internet-related companies, including Twitter, which jumped 5.7% after agreeing to let Tesla CEO and tweeter extraordinaire Elon Musk buy it.

The Dow Jones industrial average rose 0.7% to 34,049.46, while the Nasdaq composite rose 1.3% to 13,004.85.

The S&P 500 is coming off a three-week losing streak, plagued by concerns over the Federal Reserve’s plans to accelerate interest rate hikes to rein in high inflation.

Gains in several large tech-related stocks were the strongest forces to lift the S&P 500 on Monday, including a 2.4% gain for Microsoft and a 2.9% rise for Class A shares of the Google’s parent company, Alphabet.

Both are expected to release their latest quarterly results on Tuesday.

Wall Street is in the midst of one of the most important periods of earnings season. Apple, Microsoft, Amazon and parent company Google are all on deck to report this week. As they are among the largest companies by market value, their movements have the most influence on the S&P 500.

Concerns are also high about a sharp slowdown in the US economy or even a recession due to the large interest rate hikes the Fed is expected to impose.

Besides their bottom line, investors are also looking for a better view of how big companies in technology, manufacturing and retail are handling rising inflation and supply chain issues. .

Inflation remains a major concern for investors. Investors are worried about whether the Fed will be able to raise rates enough to curb inflation, but not enough to cause a recession. The Federal Reserve Chairman indicated that the central bank may raise short-term interest rates to double the usual amount at upcoming meetings, starting next week. The Fed has already raised its overnight rate once, the first such hike since 2018.

Wall Street will also receive key economic data this week. The Conference Board will release its consumer confidence measure for April on Tuesday. The Commerce Department will release its first-quarter gross domestic product report on Thursday.

Copyright 2022 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

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