HONG KONG- Asian share markets advanced marginally on Tuesday as investors looked to signs of recovery from the coronavirus pandemic as major economies around the world reopen.
MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan was just 0.15 percent higher heading into the Asian afternoon session in trading thinned by holidays in China and Japan.
Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index was trading 0.3 percent higher at 28,441.95.
Australia’s S&P/ASX200 edged up 0.4 percent to 7,056.3 ahead of a the Reserve Bank of Australia meeting at which it is expected to keep the official cash rate on hold at 0.1 percent while it awaits further signs of the domestic economy’s rebound from the pandemic-led downturn.
The mildly positive tone in Asia was broadly in line with that on Wall Street overnight, where upbeat earnings, news of cities reopening and a dovish Federal Reserve helped offset a disappointing report on manufacturing activity.
“Dovish tones from the Fed and an extraordinary fiscal stimulus from the Biden Administration are fuelling optimism that the US economy will strengthen further during 2021,” said Stephen Koukoulas, managing director at the Canberra-based Market Economics.
“Attention is also moving the US payrolls data this Friday where close to 1 million new payrolls and an unemployment rate back down towards 5.6 percent is set to reinforce this upbeat sentiment.”
Taiwan was an exception in the region, with stocks there .TWII dropping by more than 3 percent in what could be their worst session since February 26, after a sudden spurt in coronavirus infections. The index is up about 12.8 percent for the year, which ranks it as one of the strongest performing markets in the region.
