TOKYO/HONG KONG- Asian shares and US stock futures regained some footing on Tuesday following a small bounce in European markets as investors looked to whether high-flying US tech shares could recover from their recent rout.
Japan’s Nikkei advanced 0.4 percent as revised data confirmed the nation had slumped into its worst postwar contraction, with business spending taking a bigger hit from the coronavirus than initially estimated.
China’s blue-chip index tacked on 0.2 percent while Hong Kong’s Hang Seng gained 0.6 percent, even as President Donald Trump on Monday ramped up his anti-Chinese rhetoric by again raising the idea of de-coupling the US and Chinese economies.
Elsewhere, Australian shares rose for a second straight session, up 0.8 percent as optimism around the development of potential COVID-19 vaccines underpinned investor sentiment, with miners and financials leading the charge.
That left MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan up 0.37 percent.
US financial markets were shut on Monday for a public holiday while Europe’s STOXX 600 index was 1.7 percent higher.
Globally traded US S&P500 futures erased their Monday losses to trade 0.5 percent higher.
Tech shares remained more fragile, however, with Nasdaq futures dipping 0.1 percent after having lost more than 6 percent late last week.
While many market players were unable to pinpoint a single trigger for the Nasdaq’s sudden plunge, valuations have been stretched given its sharp 75 percent gain from a bottom hit in March.
“Those tech shares were becoming expensive so I would see their latest fall as a healthy correction,” said Masahiro Ichikawa, senior strategist at Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management.
