TOKYO- Asian stocks rose on Thursday, extending a rebound in global markets following a sharp selloff earlier this week, while oil prices eased again on worries about rising COVID-19 cases in some parts of the world.
Japan led gains, with the Nikkei 225 rallying 1.7 percent, after sliding 2 percent in each of the last two sessions.
MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan rose 0.4 percent, following a 0.9 percent decline the previous day. Chinese blue chips rose 0.3 percent.
“Overall I think markets are still skewed to taking on risk, and I don’t think we’ve seen the final record high by any means in the US stock market or in global equities,” said Kyle Rodda, a market analyst at IG in Melbourne.
“At the end of the day, (the selloff earlier this week) was just markets whipping around as the froth has blown off risk assets.”
MSCI’s gauge of stocks across the globe added 0.2 percent on Thursday, following a 0.4 percent gain overnight.
On Tuesday, the index had slumped 0.8 percent, the most in four weeks, as market sentiment soured amid concerns that record coronavirus infections in India, likely restrictions in Japan and rising cases in Latin America will hamper the global economic recovery.
On Wall Street, the S&P 500 rose 0.9 percent, reversing two days of declines, to finish Wednesday’s session just 12 points below its record close.
“’Buy the dip’ mentality appears to be back in equities,” Tapas Strickland, an analyst at National Australia Bank, wrote in a client note. – Reuters
