Asian stocks close higher, after advances against Covid-19 in China

Stocks in Asia and the Pacific closed mostly higher on Wednesday (11), after reports of advances in the fight against Covid-19 in China. Investors also digested the latest Chinese inflation data.

In mainland China, the Shanghai Composite index rose 0.75% to 3,058.70 points, while the less comprehensive Shenzhen Composite rose 1.27% to 1,918.52 points.

In Shanghai, which is facing the most serious outbreak of Covid-19 in the country, the daily number of new cases of the disease has dropped to less than 1,500 after peaking at 26,000 in mid-April. Despite the progress, the city reaffirmed that it will continue to implement a “zero tolerance” policy against Covid-19.

China’s annual consumer inflation rate (CPI) accelerated from 1.5% in March to 2.1% in April, beating expectations. The annual rate of Chinese producer inflation (PPI) decelerated over the same period, from 8.3% to 8%, but was also higher than expected.

Elsewhere in Asia, Japan’s Nikkei gained a modest 0.18% in Tokyo today at 26,213.64 points, and the Hang Seng gained 0.97% in Hong Kong at 19,824.57 points.

In Seoul, on the other hand, South Korean Kospi fell 0.17% to 2,592.27 points, extending losses to the seventh consecutive trading session, while in Taiwan, Taiex was down 0.35% to 16,006.25. spots.

In the Asian region, there are also expectations for the latest US CPI figures, which will be released this Wednesday morning and have a strong influence on the monetary policy of the Federal Reserve (Fed, the American central bank). The Fed has raised rates on two occasions since March and plans further hikes in the coming months.

In Oceania, the Australian stock exchange was in the blue, up 0.19% from the S&P/ASX 200 in Sydney, at 7,064.70 points.

With information from Dow Jones Newswires