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Asia Shares Rally
Upbeat U.S. data and overnight rise in oil prices boost investor confidence, ease jitters about weak global growth
By CHAO DENG
Updated March 1, 2016 11:18 p.m. ET
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Markets in Asia surged Wednesday, after signs of improvement in the U.S. economy helped restore investor confidence and ease jitters about weak global growth.
Japan’s Nikkei Stock Average jumped 4%, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index rose 2.7% and Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 gained 2.3%. South Korea’s Kospi was up 1.5%.
The Shanghai Composite Index was up 2.3% by the local midday break, despite starting roughly flat. The gains added to its 1.7% jump on Tuesday in the wake of easing measures from China’s central bank earlier in the week.
The region’s recovery was gaining steam after a rally in oil prices overnight and upbeat economic data out of the U.S., which helped calm fears of a global slowdown. A rally had also started to form the previous session as a move by Beijing to lower the amount of reserves banks need to hold came into effect. Investors largely brushed off disappointing Chinese factory activity figures.
Overnight, a gauge of the troubled U.S. manufacturing sector rose last month to its best reading since September, U.S. auto sales climbed and U.S. construction spending rose in January. Federal-funds futures, used by investors and traders to place bets on central-bank policy, showed a greater likelihood of a rate increase from the Fed at its December policy meeting. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 2.1%.
“A lot of this [rally] does look to be underpinned by the stability that oil has found above the US$30 level over the past two weeks,” said Angus Nicholson, strategist at brokerage IG. “China announced cuts to the [reserve requirement ratio for banks] this week, and markets are looking to the upcoming European Central Bank and Bank of Japan meetings for signs of further global monetary stimulus,” he added.
In China, shares rose even though Moody’s Investor Service lowered its outlook on the country’s credit rating to negative from stable, before the market open. The rating firm cited rising government debt, capital outflows and other issues.
Some hopes for reform measures are growing ahead of China’s parliamentary sessions kicking off later this week. And, some Chinese brokers, such as Guotai Junan Securities Co. Ltd. have raised the discount rate for margin financing, essentially allowing investors borrow more money to invest in stocks, especially in blue-chips.
“[Chinese authorities may have realized] that deleveraging efforts may have been overdone,” said Zhang Xin, an analyst at Guotai Junan Securities. Total margin debt dropped to 850.4 billion yuan on Tuesday, nearing a fresh low since December 2014, according to database provider Wind Information Co.
Meanwhile, the Chinese yuan weakened as authorities guided it to its lowest level against the U.S. dollar since Feb. 3. The central bank had guided the currency slightly stronger on Tuesday after the cut in banks’ reserve requirement ratios. The local currency last traded at 6.5516 yuan to one U.S. dollar, weakening from roughly 6.5432 late Tuesday Asia time.
In Australia, the local dollar was up 0.6% at $0.7220 compared to late in Asia the previous day, after data showed that Australia’s economy expanded more strongly than expected in the four quarter of 2015. Gross domestic product climbed 3.0% from a year earlier, compared to 2.5% forecast by economists.
—Yifan Xie and Leslie Josephs contributed to this article.
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