Asian shares rose following the latest retail sales report showed US consumer confidence remained stable, despite high inflation and the US Federal Reserve (Fed) may continue to raise interest rates.
Ending the session, Japanese stocks rose as investor sentiment was buoyed by a rally on Wall Street. The Nikkei 225 in Tokyo advanced 0.71% (or 194.58 points) to 27,696.44 points.
Similarly, South Korean stocks rose nearly 2% on the back of gains in large-cap auto and technology stocks. Accordingly, the Kospi index in Seoul increased by 1.96% (47.58 points) and closed at 2,475.48 points.
Markets Sydney, Singapore, Mumbai, Bangkok, Wellington and Taipei also gained. Meanwhile, Manila and Jakarta reversed their early gains.
In China , the main indexes diverged. The Hang Seng Index in Hong Kong rose 0.84% (175.50 points) to 20,987.67 points. The Shanghai Composite Index in Shanghai failed to maintain its early gains and ended down 0.96% (31.46 points) to 3,249.03 points.
Markets have been watching the US economic data for the past several months. Most traders agree that the strong numbers are good for the economy but bad for stocks, as they will add pressure on the Fed to continue tightening monetary policy.
With this in mind, the world stock markets experienced a sell-off following the US jobs data spiked last month. It is also an opportunity for central bank officials to warn once morest raising interest rates higher and staying there longer than expected.
The news that January inflation in the US fell below estimates also reinforced that view, further denting investor sentiment.
However, analysts say the biggest gain in retail sales since March 2021 may have convinced some people to change their minds that “good news is bad news” and believe that the economy has a positive outlook. a recession can be avoided.
Still, there are worries on exchanges as investors try to gauge the outlook for the world’s top economy. First American Trust’s Jerry Braakman said the market is trying to figure out if this is a rare “soft landing” or will need to wait a bit longer before the economy fell into a terrible recession.
In the domestic market, at the end of the session on February 16, the VN-Index increased by 10.09 points (0.96%) to 1,058.29 points. HNX-Index rose 2.87 points (1.38%) to 210.84 points
