Asian shares rise despite economic growth, rate worries
CTV
Asian markets rose Monday, although worries continued about economic growth and inflationary pressures.
Asian markets rose Monday, although worries continued about economic growth and inflationary pressures.
Traders are focused on companies' upcoming earnings reports and worry about how inflation might affect moves by the Federal Reserve and the world's other central banks on interest rates.
Japan's benchmark Nikkei 225 inched up nearly 0.1% to 28,514.78. Australia's S&P/ASX 200 edged up 0.3% to 7,381.50, while South Korea's Kospi rose 0.2% to 2,575.91. Hong Kong's Hang Seng added 1.7% to 20,793.06. The Shanghai Composite gained 1.4% to 3,385.61.
"Markets suffer from more heat than light as hyper-sensitivity of Fed policy projections to U.S. data continues to infuse out-sized volatility," said Tan Boon Heng at Mizuho Bank.
China's central bank kept the one-year medium-term lending facility rate unchanged at 2.75%, suggesting economic growth data to be released Tuesday won't be too alarming.
Stocks on Wall Street ended last week lower as worries about interest rates overshadowed an encouraging start to earnings reporting season.
The S&P 500 fell 8.58 points, or 0.2%, to 4,137.64 after giving up an early gain. The Dow Jones Industrial Average lost 143.22, or 0.4%, to 33,886.47, while the Nasdaq composite sank 42.81, or 0.4%, to 12,123.47.
