Tracking Wall St, Asian indices up
Seoul, Shanghai and Hong Kong settled with gains; European markets were trading in the positive territory; US markets ended with significant gains on Thursday as Dow Jones jumped 1.7%, Nasdaq composite climbed 1.8%
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Hong Kong: Asian shares advanced on Friday after Wall Street roared higher on bets that market-rattling interest rate hikes are coming to an end. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng added 2.6 per cent to 17,680.01, while the Shanghai Composite gained 0.7 per cent to 3,026.32. Tokyo markets were closed for a holiday. In China, a services industry survey showed a slight improvement in October, though retail sales hit its lowest level in 10 months.
Similar surveys for the manufacturing sector released early this week showed more sluggish market conditions overall. Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 gained 1.1 per cent to 6,978.20. South Korea’s Kospi surged 1.1 per cent to 2,368.34. India’s Sensex was 0.6 per cent higher and Bangkok’s SET rose 1.4 per cent. Hopes that the Federal Reserve may finally be done with raising rates after it opted to keep its benchmark rate unchanged pushed shares higher around the world on Thursday. The Fed has jacked up rates furiously since early last year to try to slow the economy and starve high inflation of its fuel.
On Wall Street, the S&P 500 leaped 1.9 per cent Thursday to 4,317.78 for its fourth straight winning day. It’s already up 4.9 per cent this week and on pace for its best week in nearly a year. The Dow Jones Industrial Average jumped 1.7 per cent to 33,838,08, and the Nasdaq composite climbed 1.8 per cent to 13,294.19. Longer-term Treasury yields fell. The yield on the 10-year Treasury dropped to 4.66 per cent on early Friday from 4.67 per cent and from more than 5 per cent last week, when it reached its highest level since 2007.
