TH: Hopes for Chinese economic stimulus boost Asian markets
Asian markets mostly rose on Monday after Wall Street's gains at the end of last week, while Hong Kong and Shanghai were boosted by hopes for more Chinese economic stimulus.
The euro edged down against the dollar and yen at the beginning of a week of key events, including Greece's bailout reform proposals and the release of US jobs data, which will be pored over for clues about the Federal Reserve's plans for interest rates.
Tokyo rose 0.65%, or 125.77 points, to 19,411.40, with investors brushing off news that Japanese factory output had fallen by more than expected in February.
Shanghai surged 2.59%, or 95.47 points, to 3,786.57 – its highest close since March 2008 – while Hong Kong finished up 1.51%, or 368.92 points, at 24,855.12.
Seoul ended 0.51% higher, adding 10.24 points to 2,030.04.
However, Sydney dropped 1.25%, or 73.8 points, to close at 5,846.1 owing to weak commodity prices.
Investors took their cue from New York, where a four-day losing streak came to an end on Friday despite figures showing the US economy grew at a slower pace than some expected in the last three months of 2014.
The Commerce Department said growth came in at an annual rate of 2.2% in October-December, less than the 2.4% projected by analysts but unchanged from the prior estimate.
The Dow added 0.19%, the S&P 500 rose 0.24% and the Nasdaq gained 0.57%.
Asian buying was also supported Monday by comments from the head of the People's Bank of China suggesting it could announce further monetary easing measures to boost the economy. – AFP, March 30, 2015.
