Stocks edge up on stimulus hopes
singapore — Global stock markets mostly rose on Tuesday as after Chinese officials set out plans to support the world’s second-biggest economy through a slowdown. Investors were also looking at corporate earnings as well as a vote later by the British parliament on a Brexit deal that has drawn strong opposition at home.
In Asia, Japan’s Nikkei 225 index, reopening after a market holiday, added 1 per cent to 20,555.29. The Kospi in South Korea jumped 1.6 per cent to 2,097.18. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng rebounded 2 per cent to 26,830.29. The Shanghai Composite index was up 1.4 per cent at 2,570.34 and Australia’s S&P ASX 200 rose 0.7 per cent to 5,814.60. Shares rose in Taiwan, Singapore and Indonesia, but fell in the Philippines.
Saudi Arabia’s index gained 0.9 per cent to trade at a near sixmonth high as rebounding oil prices lifted all its banks. In Dubai, the index lost 1.5 per cent, weighed down by a 9.8 per cent slide in developer Damac Properties after BofA Merrill Lynch downgraded the stock to ‘underperform’ from ‘neutral’.
Emirates NBD declined 2.1 per cent and the emirate’s biggest developer Emaar Properties dropped 1.5 per cent.
In Europe, Britain’s FTSE 100 rose 0.1 per cent to 6,860. Germany’s DAX lost early gains to trade down 0.1 per cent to 10,843 after new data showed the country’s economy slowed last year to its weakest pace in five years. The CAC 40 in France was flat at 4,763. Wall Street was set for small gains on the open. Dow futures were up 0.2 per cent and the broader S&P 500 futures were up 0.1 per cent.
British lawmakers were due to vote later Tuesday on a Brexit deal brokered between Prime Minister Theresa May and other European leaders. It will likely be rejected despite a last-minute push by May.
“With a lack of an option B, the vote could narrow down the possibility to a hard-Brexit or a no-Brexit that could be the next step for the timed Brexit journey,” Jingyi Pan of IG said in a market commentary.
Mainland Chinese company shares surged after senior economic leaders, briefing reporters Tuesday on the outcome of an annual policy-setting meeting last month,
pledged to keep the monetary policy of the world’s No. 2 economy flexible but stable and to support growth with improved access to financing for private and smaller enterprises. The assurances came as China weathers its worst slowdown since the global financial crisis amid a punishing tariffs dispute with the US.
The dollar strengthened to 108.36 yen from 108.16 late Monday. The euro eased to $1.1422 from $1.1473 after the weak German economic data. The pound was steady around $1.2849 ahead of the Brexit vote.