SYDNEY, NSW, Australia-stocks across Asia followed Wall Street's lead Thursday, posting good gains across the board. The positive economic data from China helped sentiment, along with a softening of U.S. Treasury yields. The U.S. dollar fell on a wave of profit-taking.
I've argued that an upswing in money supply and credit growth could provide a floor for Chinese equities and signal that investor sentiment may start to improve, especially if COVID and geopolitical concerns start to wane, David Chao, Hong Kong-based global market strategist at Invesco, told Reuters on Thursday.
The Hang Seng went up 123.51 points or 0.58 percent to close Thursday at 21,497 in Hong Kong. The Nikkei 225 advanced to 27,172 by 328.51 points or 1.22 percent in Japan. The Australian All Ordinaries gained 50.20 points or 0.65 percent to 7,822. South Korea's Kospi Composite was up 0.22 of a point or 0.01 percent to 2,716, it was up 0.22 of a point or 0.01 percent. In New Zealand, the S&P NZX 50 climbed 16.58 points or 0.14 percent to 11,891. The euro was at 1.0908 on foreign exchange markets. The British pound increased to 1.3132. The Swiss franc was down to 0.9346.
The Canadian dollar was little changed at 1.2556. The Australian dollar was also moving at 0.7443. The New Zealand dollar was up to 0.6816.
Overnight on Wall Street, the Nasdaq Composite surged 272.02 points or 2.03 percent to 13,643. The Dow Jones industrials advanced by 344.23 points or 2.03 percent to 13,643. The S&P 500 added 49.14 points or 1.12 percent to 4,446.