Asian markets rise following strong Wall St gains
Asian markets rose on Tuesday
following strong gains on Wall Street as investors bet a surge in Covid-19
cases due to the fast-spreading Omicron variant will not derail the economic
recovery.
The highly mutated strain has fuelled
a massive increase in cases across the globe, with countries reviving
lockdowns, thousands of flights cancelled and cruise ships returning to port
with Covid-infected passengers.
There is, however, a "belief
that Omicron is going to be a nuisance but not a dire strait for the global
economy -- at least not for long," said Briefing.com analyst Patrick
O'Hare.
Wall Street enjoyed strong gains,
with the S&P 500 powering ahead 1.4 percent to a second straight record on
Monday while the Dow and Nasdaq added at least one percent.
It was the start of a historically
strong seven-day post-Christmas stretch known on trading floors as the
"Santa Claus rally," a period of low trading volumes and light news
flow that usually sees stocks drift higher.
The optimism carried over to Asia,
with Tokyo up 1.0 percent by the break Tuesday. Singapore, Taipei and Jakarta
saw gains while Seoul edged higher. Sydney and New Zealand were still closed
for the holiday break.
"Today's shares are expected to
stay strong after a rebound. US stocks are trading higher in the midst of a
Santa Claus rally, and risk-on trends are likely to spread to Japanese
stocks," Okasan Online Securities said.
Shanghai was down 0.1 percent while
Hong Kong was flat in a see-saw session as Macau casino stocks fell sharply
after the gaming enclave reported its first Omicron case.
Oil futures rose in Asia, with
benchmark WTI trading above $75 and Brent heading towards $79 a barrel.
Key figures around 0300 GMT
Tokyo - Nikkei 225: UP 1.0 percent
at 28,952.76 (break)
Hong Kong - Hang Seng Index: FLAT at
23,221.84
Shanghai - Composite: DOWN 0.1
percent at 3,611.67
Euro/dollar: DOWN at $1.1323 from
$1.1329 late on Monday
Pound/dollar: DOWN at $1.3433 from
$1.3440
Euro/pound: DOWN at 84.23 pence from
84.26 pence
Dollar/yen: DOWN at 114.86 yen from
114.88 yen
West Texas Intermediate: UP 0.3
percent at $75.76 per barrel
Brent North Sea crude: UP 0.2
percent at $78.73 per barrel
New York - Dow: UP 1.0 percent at
36,302.38 (close)
Frankfurt - DAX: UP 0.5 percent at
15,835.25 (close)
London - FTSE 100: FLAT at 7,372.10
points (Friday close)