Stocks across Asia-Pacific jumped on Tuesday, bouncing back from Monday losses as Wall Street rallied on optimism that the omicron variant risk might not be as bad as feared.
In Japan, the Nikkei 225 resurfaced 528.33 points, or 1.9%, to 28,455.60,
SoftBank shares rebounded nearly 8% after plummeting over 8% on Monday as it tracked losses of tech giants Alibaba and Didi.
The Japanese yen traded at 113.70 per U.S. dollar, continuing to weaken since yesterday.
In Hong Kong, the Hang Seng recovered 634.28 points, or 2.7%, to 23,983.66, as casino and property shares rose. Tech stocks also recovered from the previous session. Tencent was up 3.6%, and Alibaba soared 12.2% after losing nearly 6% Monday.
Evergrande shares struggled to recover from Monday’s record lows. While the stock initially rallied in Tuesday trade, shares lost steam and were recently seen trading just 1.66% higher.
On Friday, the embattled real estate developer said it cannot guarantee it has sufficient funds for its repayment obligations and moved toward a plan to restructure its offshore debt.
On Monday, it said in a filing with the Hong Kong exchange that it’s setting up a risk management committee, which will play a role in mitigating and eliminating future risks for the firm.
Other Hong Kong-listed property shares also rose. Sun Hung Kai was up 2.71%, and China Vanke jumped 3.09%. Sunac soared over 16%.
The Australian dollar was at $0.7086, as it strengthened from the $0.701 level.
CHINA
Mainland Chinese stocks were subdued however.
In China, the CSI 300 gained 29.48 points, or 0.6%, to 4,922.10.
China’s trade data for November showed that imports came in above expectations, jumping 31.7% in November, according to Reuters. But exports were below expectations, rising 22%.
China’s central bank had announced after market hours on Monday that it would cut the reserve requirement ratio, or the amount of cash that banks must hold as reserves, for the second time this year. It will release 1.2 trillion yuan ($282 billion) to boost slowing growth amid the pandemic.
In other markets
In Taiwan, the Taiex shot higher 108.71 points, or 0.6%, to 17,796.92
In Singapore, the Straits Times Index gained 18.34 points, or 0.6%, to 3,134.66
In Korea, the Kospi index advanced 18.47 points, or 0.6%, to 2,991.72
In New Zealand, the NZX 50 restocked 12.07 points, or 0.1%, to 12,609.88
In Australia, the ASX 200 eked up 18.83 points, or 1%, at 7,313.90
