TOKYO (AP) – Asian stocks rose on Thursday over optimism over the new US administration, which marked the beginning of a rally on Wall Street.
Expectations are high that President Joe Biden’s administration will mean more support for the struggling US economy, establishing a recovery that is critical to the export-driven Asian region.
Japan’s benchmark Nikkei 225 rose 0.7% in the morning to reach 28,733.11. Australia’s S&P / ASX 200 rose 0.6% to 6,811.20 points, while South Korea’s Kospi rose 0.4% to 3,127.81. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng was slightly changed, down 0.1% to 29,974.00, while the Shanghai Composite rose 0.4% to 3,597.04.
Data released by the Japanese Ministry of Finance showed that the world’s third-largest economy is heading towards a recovery, as exports in December were first in two years, up 2% from the same month last year. Imports declined 11.6%, marking the 20th straight month of decline.
Japan’s economy, like many others throughout the region, has been slammed by the coronovirus epidemic, which has crushed tourism and affected economic activities and trade. The Bank of Japan is holding a policy board meeting, but little change is expected by analysts. Tokyo and other urban areas of Japan are in a state of emergency, as cases of coronovirus have recently increased.
On Wall Street, the S&P 500 rose 1.4%, topping its previous all-time high set earlier this month. The Dow Jones Industrial Average, the Nasdaq Composite and the Russell 2000 Index of Small Companies have also hit record highs, driven by gains in technology, communications, healthcare and most other sectors.
Biden Showered with executive actions In his first hours as president. He planned to raise more than $ 1.9 trillion in the struggling economy, hoping that his Democratic Party would now control both the White House and both houses of Congress.
There is hope on Wall Street that such stimuli will help carry the economy through the end of this year, when a more comprehensive COVID-19 vaccination will take daily life closer to normal.
“Most of Wall Street is assuming that the second half (of 2021) is when we will see demand for the economy start to show up, and this will drive economic indicators higher and accelerate earnings estimates.” “Said Sam Stovall, Chief Investment Strategist at CFRA.
The S&P 500 gained 52.94 points to open at 3,851.85 points. The Dow rose 257.86 points, or 0.8%, to 31,188.38 points. The Nasdaq gained 260.07 points or 2% to close at 13,457.25. Russell 2000 reached 9.48 points, or 0.4%, at 2,160.62.
A better start to earnings in the reporting season also helped lift the US market. Analysts said the forecast of large companies in the S&P 500, with low expectations, would mark a fourth straight decline in earnings per share due to epidemic losses. But at the earliest most reports managed to top forecasts.
Netflix The S&P jumped 16.9% to its biggest gain since ending last year with more than 200 million subscribers. It was higher in revenue during the end of 2020 than analysts had expected, although its earnings fell short of forecasts.
Profit for the shares has intensified since Biden’s election, sparking enthusiasm about COVID-19 vaccines and possible economic moves. Trump for the shares between Election Day and Biden’s inauguration was larger than Trump’s collision between his election and the inauguration.
“The market is up more than 13% since Election Day,” Stoval said since World War II, the S&P 500 has averaged 3.5% in the first 100 days of the Democratic presidential administration. 0.5% when a Republican was in the White House.
Analysts have expressed concern about rising value in the latest round of corporate earnings, said Solita Marcelli, chief investment officer at Solicity at UBS Global Wealth Management, but they are more reasonable amid a backdrop of historically low interest rates. The low rate, along with the continued rollout of new stimuli and vaccines, will potentially help bolster markets and recovery.
“We think global growth will continue,” he said.
In energy trading, benchmark US crude rose 26 cents to $ 53.24 a barrel. International standard Brent crude fell 19 cents to $ 55.89 a barrel.
In currency trading, the US dollar slipped from 103.76 yen to 103.52 Japanese yen. The euro costs $ 1.2128 from $ 1.2134.
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AP Business Writers Stan Choe, Damian J. Troise and Alex Veiga contributed.
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