Asian markets follow Wall Street higher

Asian equities shrug off weaker China Industrial Profits

Wall Street staged a powerful rally overnight thanks to mostly impressive results from US retailers. The S&P 500 rallied by 1.99%, the Nasdaq leapt 2.68%, and the Dow Jones climbed by 1.62%. Although the rallies were impressive, the price action was very much in line with the schizophrenic behaviour of Wall Street these past few weeks, and I have no doubt that one piece of bad news will send the FOMO gnomes scurrying for the exit. In Asia, US futures have eased by around 0.15% as profit-taking from the overnight session makes its way through the market.

The impressive overnight rally has allowed Asian markets to ignore weakening China Industrial Profits this morning, and with a slow news day this far, Asia looks set to end the week on a positive note. Japan’s Nikkei 225 is 0.50% higher, with South Korea’s Kospi rallying by 0.90%. Taipei, meanwhile, has jumped by 1.65%, coat-tailing the Nasdaq.

Mainland China equities are also higher, the Shanghai Composite rising by 0.50%, with the CSI 300 gaining 0.62%. Meanwhile, the market always looking for a reason to buy, Hong Kong, has leapt 2.93% higher. Singapore has risen by 0.45% today, with Kuala Lumpur underperforming, losing 0.10%. Jakarta has posted a 1.50% gain, Bangkok is up by 0.80%, and Manila is 0.70% higher. Australian markets are also enjoying a friendly Friday, the ASX 200 and All Ordinaries climbing by 1.0%.

Except for UK markets, which posted only modest gains after the energy company windfall tax announcements, Europe performed well yesterday. Asia’s strong session should give Europe another positive start today, although, weekend risk will likely cap any rallies. US markets are a coin-toss these days and if PCE data is on the high side tonight, so will Fed tightening sentiment be. That could easily reverse yesterday’s outperformance.

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