TOKYO — Asian shares rose Tuesday, partly on bargain-hunting from the recent global market falls amid continuing pessimism about the conronavirus pandemic.
Japan’s benchmark Nikkei 225
NIK,
+2.08%
surged 2.1% in morning trading, while South Korea’s Kospi
180721,
+1.24%
gained 1.2%. Australia’s S&P/ASX 200
XJO,
+0.61%
added 0.4%. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng
HSI,
+1.24%
jumped 1.3% , while the Shanghai Composite
SHCOMP,
+0.08%
was little changed. Stocks dipped in Indonesia
JAKIDX,
-0.42%,
but made strong gains in Taiwan
Y9999,
+4.75%
and Singapore
STI,
+1.41%.
Regional markets shrugged off the latest gross domestic product data out of Japan, showing the world’s third largest economy contracted at an annualized rate of 5.1% in January-March, its worst pace since World War II. Analysts had expected the GDP results and don’t see the situation improving soon.
Yeap Jung Rong, market strategist at IG in Singapore, said Asian markets were seeking “to rebound from weakness over concerns on virus resurgences.” Although Asia has fared better in curbing infections and COVID-19 related deaths, compared to the U.S. and parts of Europe, worries have been growing about recent surges in coronavirus cases.
U.S. stocks slipped on Monday, tacking more losses onto last week’s stumble, as worries about inflation continue to dog Wall Street.
The S&P 500
SPX,
-0.25%
dipped 10.56, or 0.3%, to 4,163.29, with tech stocks and other former market darlings once again taking the brunt of the losses. The benchmark index is coming off a 1.4% weekly drop from its record high, which would have been even worse if not for a late rebound.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average
DJIA,
-0.16%
fell 54.34, or 0.2%, to 34,327.79, while the Nasdaq composite
COMP,
-0.38%
lost 50.93, or 0.4%, to 13,379.05.
In energy trading, benchmark U.S. crude
CLM21,
+0.27%
added 21 cents to $66.48 a barrel. Brent crude
BRNN21,
+0.26%,
the international standard, rose 25 cents to $69.71 a barrel.
In currency trading, the U.S. dollar
USDJPY,
-0.04%
edged down to 109.15 Japanese yen from 109.27 yen.
