TOKYO- Asian stocks rose on Thursday, taking cues from a strong rally on Wall Street after robust economic data and upbeat corporate guidance boosted investor appetite.
The dollar hovered near its highest this week after Federal Reserve officials continued to stress that policy tightening is far from over. However, Treasury yields remained down from two-week highs as investors stayed sidelined ahead of employment data this week that will guide the path of interest rates.
Crude oil prices stabilized after sliding to an almost six-month low overnight as US data showed an unexpected surge in stockpiles.
Japan’s Nikkei rose 0.58 percent, while Chinese blue chips added 0.55 percent and Hong Kong’s Hang Seng .HSI jumped 1.24 percent, with an index of its tech stocks surging 2.29 percent.
MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares gained 0.65 percent.
US S&P 500 futures were about flat, after the underlying index jumped 1.56 percent overnight and the tech-heavy Nasdaq surged 2.73 percent to a three-month peak.
Strong financial results from PayPal lifted the mood, while data showed new orders for US-manufactured goods increased solidly.
Meanwhile, more Fed officials joined the chorus saying more tightening is necessary to rein in inflation.
However, one – San Francisco Fed President Mary Daly – said in an interview with Reuters that a half point hike may be what’s needed at the next meeting in September, rather than another 75 basis-point rise.
Fed Chair Jerome Powell said last week the central bank may consider another “unusually large” rate hike at its Sept. 20-21 gathering.
“The view that we have this pivot away from tightening (by the Fed) has been very heavily hammered over the last 48 hours by pretty much everyone and their dog, saying we are still going to be tightening rates pretty aggressively,” said Rob Carnell, Asia-Pacific head of research at ING in Singapore. – Reuters
