Markets across Asia rallied Friday after details from the U.S. central bank’s latest meeting cast further doubt on the prospect of higher interest rates this year.
The Nikkei 225 index recovered from Thursday’s losses, springing ahead 297.5 points, or 1.6%, to end the week at 18,438.67, near its highest level in almost a month.
The Hang Seng index in Hong Kong regained 103.89 points, or 0.5%, to 22,458.80
Hopes for easier monetary policies from global central banks have been building, spurring gains earlier this week in shares and emerging-market currencies that were pummeled by fears of capital flight. Easing concerns about oversupply lifted some commodities, giving a boost to energy stocks and currencies of commodities-exposed emerging markets, too.
Minutes from the Federal Reserve’s most recent meeting, released overnight, showed that the central bank delayed its rate increase because of concerns about low inflation. That helped lift U.S. stocks, with the S&P 500 closing up 0.9%.
The S&P/ASX 200 closed up 1.3%, marking its fifth-straight day of gains, its first such string of up days since January
The rebound has helped Australia’s energy sector add 15% this week, its best in more than two decades.
Australia’s Santos Ltd. surged 9%, taking its gains this week to 43%. Woodside Petroleum Ltd. was up 2.6% and has risen 10% this week.
Meanwhile, shares of Glencore PLC jumped 7% in Hong Kong after the company stepped up production cutbacks. The company said it would slash its zinc output and suspend two mines, after a collapse in prices for the industrial metal. The closures are the latest in a string of mine shutdowns for Glencore, which has been under intense scrutiny by investors concerned that falling raw-material prices could strain the mining and commodity-trading group’s finances.
Three-month zinc prices on the London Metal Exchange are up nearly 5% from Thursday’s close at $1,747 U.S. a metric ton, a three-week high. Still, the gains come against the backdrop of steep losses earlier this year that sent the industrial metal to five-year lows amid concerns about inventory pileups.
CHINA
The CSI 300 in Shanghai added 43.63 points, or 1.3%, to 3,340.12. The market has been playing catchup after reopening a day ago from a weeklong holiday.
In other markets
Markets in Korea and Taiwan were closed for holiday.
In Singapore, the Straits Times Index recouped 51.47 points, or 1.8%, to 2,998.50
The NZX 50 poked ahead 13.01 points, or 0.2%, to 5,638.79
The ASX 200 Index moved up 69.29 points, or 1.3%, to 5,279.69
