© Reuters. ARCHIVE PHOTO: A man wearing a protective mask, in the middle of the outbreak of coronavirus disease (COVID-19), passes in front of an electronic board showing graphs (above) of the Nikkei index outside a brokerage in Tokyo, Japan, March 10, 2022. REUTERS / Kim Kyung-Hoon
By Julie Zhu
HONG KONG (Reuters) – Asian stocks hit positive territory in trading on Tuesday afternoon, boosted by China’s decision to ease some quarantine requirements for international arrivals, with particular support from stocks of Hong Kong.
The broader Asia-Pacific stock index outside Japan rose 0.5%, after spending most of the day in the red. The index has fallen 3.8% so far this month.
Health officials said Tuesday that China will halve its COVID-19 quarantine period for visitors from abroad, with three more days at home.
Following the news, Hong Kong reversed its losses and rose 0.85% in afternoon trading.
In China, the CSI300 blue-chip index was 1% higher, also after recovering from previous losses.
It seemed that the strong change in mood would last until the world day, with a rise of 0.31% in the pan-regional, a 0.2% higher in Germany and an increase in futures of 0.47%. US stock futures rose 0.46%.
“With new local infections falling even further in June and COVID’s brakes to ease further, we expect the (Chinese) economy to continue to recover,” BofA said in its note. “That said, given COVID’s soft domestic demand and persistent uncertainties, the road to repair is likely to be bumpy in the coming months.”
Market sentiment was also bolstered by an official’s remarks that Beijing would launch tools to meet economic challenges, as outbreaks of COVID-19 and the risks of the Ukrainian war pose a threat to employment and price stability.
Australian equities rose 0.86%, while the stock index rose 0.66%.
US equities closed a slightly lower volatile trading session on Monday with few catalysts to influence investor sentiment as they approach the middle of a year in which equity markets have seen affected by rising inflation concerns and tightening Fed policy.
Interest-sensitive megacaps like Amazon.com Inc. (NASDAQ :), Microsoft Corp. (NASDAQ :), and Alphabet (NASDAQ 🙂 Inc. were the heaviest frictions of major U.S. indices.
It fell 0.2%, 0.30% and 0.72%.
Oil continued to rise and investors still weighed on concerns about an economic slowdown in the face of concerns about the loss of Russian supply amid sanctions related to the conflict in Ukraine.
rose 1.02% to $ 110.69 a barrel. rose to $ 116.42 per barrel.
“A tight supply news sequence strengthened the (oil) market,” Commonwealth Bank of Australia (OTC 🙂 analysts said. “Political unrest could reduce the supply of a couple of second-tier producers, Ecuador and Libya. And then there is the price limit for Russian oil proposed by the G7.”
In bond markets, Treasury yields rose on Monday after capital goods and durable goods orders data and as pending home sales surprised surprisingly up from the previous month.
The benchmark index performance last reached 3.1828% on Tuesday, compared to the U.S. close of 3.194% on Monday. The two-year yield, which is rising with traders ’expectations of rising Fed fund rates, touched 3.0934%.
In addition, the dollar fell compared to major rivals as investors weighed on expectations about inflation and rising interest rates. The, which tracks the green dollar with a basket of currencies from other major trading partners, fell to 103.96.
Gold was slightly higher with the spot price at $ 1,825.79 per ounce. [GOL/]