Asian stocks close higher after minutes show Fed softer

Asian stocks close higher after minutes show Fed softer

Asian stock markets closed mostly with gains on Thursday (24), one day after the minutes of the most recent monetary meeting of the Federal Reserve (Fed) show that the entity’s leaders defend a slowdown in the tightening of financial conditions soon.

The signal for a softer Fed overcomes concerns about the Covid-19 pandemic in China, which on Thursday recorded its highest historical number of new cases in a day, which forced authorities to tighten restrictions.

With an eye on the disease situation, the Shanghai Composite index closed down 0.25%, at 3,089.31 points, but it was the exception, with the less comprehensive Shenzhen Composite ending the trading session up 0.13%, at 1,998, 14 points, and Hang Seng, from Hong Kong, with gains of 0.78%, at 17,660.90 points.

The driver was optimism with the deceleration of monetary tightening in the US, after the Fed’s minutes the day before stated that most leaders thought that slowing down the pace of interest rate hikes “would probably be appropriate soon”.

According to ING, the document was a surprise dovish by showing strong support for easing monetary tightening and “weaker support for the ‘higher longer’ narrative” by President Jerome Powell.

In Hong Kong, the main gains were in real estate, with Country Garden and Longfor Group soaring 20% ​​and 12% respectively.

The move came after China’s state-owned banks said they would release at least 270 billion yuan in credit to the sector, which is experiencing an extensive liquidity crisis.

In Japan, the Nikkei index closed up 0.95%, at 28,383.09 points, despite the purchasing managers index (PMI) of the country’s industrial sector falling below 50 in November, which indicates a contraction in activity .

The South Korean Kospi ended the session with gains of 0.96%, at 2,441.33 points, driven by the moderation of local monetary tightening, after the BC of South Korea raised interest rates by 25 basis points, to 3, 25%.

The positive drivers outweighed concerns about the rise in Covid-19 cases in China, which today reached the highest daily level since the pandemic began in November 2019.

In response, Zhengzhou authorities advised 6.6 million city dwellers not to leave their homes for the next five days, in yet another sign of tightening restrictions on social mobility in the country.

Among other Asian markets, the Taiwanese Taiex index closed up 1.20% to 14,784.00 points and the Australian S&P/ASX 200 rose 0.14% to 7,241.80 points.

Source: CNN Brasil