Asian shares soar as Wall St rallies for 3rd day
Tokyo, South Korea, Taiwan gained; Shanghai sank and Australia was closed on Anzac Day; Stocks ended over 1.8% higher in USA on Thursday
image for illustrative purpose
Hong Kong: Asian markets were higher on Friday after Wall Street rallied for the third day, driven by hopes for the Federal Reserve to cut rates. Tokyo’s Nikkei 225 surged 1.9 per cent to 35,705.74 and the Kospi in South Korea gained 0.9 per cent to 2,546.15. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng picked up 0.7 per cent to 22,056.39, while the Shanghai Composite Index inched down 0.1 per cent to 3,295.78.
The rally was boosted by hopes that Trump was softening his approach on tariffs and his criticism of the Federal Reserve, but China denied Thursday it’s involved in active trade negotiations with the US. Tech stocks rose in China, with Lenovo Group rising 4.9 per cent while the Chinese search engine company Baidu added 4.7 per cent. However, the shares of China’s largest semiconductor foundry, Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corporation, lost 2.4 per cent. Taiwan’s Taiex added 2 per cent.
India’s Sensex sank 1.4 per cent after tensions with Pakistan over the Pahalgam terror attack. The market in Australia was closed because of Anzac Day. Wall Street’s rally kept rolling Thursday as better-than-expected profits for US companies piled up in reports mainly from tech companies like ServiceNow and Texas Instruments, offsetting the uncertainties in the retail sector.
