Stocks in Asia Pacific rose on Tuesday, with major markets regionally closed for holidays.
The Hang Seng index in Hong Kong regained 254.86, or 1.1%, to 23,868.66, after closing more than 4% lower on Monday. The city’s government announced on Monday that Hong Kong’s economy contracted 8.9% in the first quarter as compared to a year ago — its largest decline on record since 1974.
In a statement, Hong Kong Financial Secretary Paul Chan said the "external environment is still very challenging" even though the virus situation in the city “seems to be under control.”
Markets in Tokyo, Shanghai and Korea remained shuttered for holiday. The Japanese yen traded at 106.71 per U.S. dollar after seeing levels around 107 yesterday.
Australian shares made something of a comeback, with shares of major banks such as Commonwealth Bank of Australia and Westpac all advancing. That came as the Reserve Bank of Australia announced Tuesday its decision to maintain policy.
The Australian dollar changed hands at $0.6451 after crossing the $0.654 level last week.
Investors also continued to watch for developments on the global coronavirus pandemic as authorities around the world begin taking steps to unroll social distancing measures put in place to curb the virus’ spread. That, however, comes amid rising U.S.-China tensions.
In other markets
In Singapore, the Straits Times Index recovered 8.67 points, or 0.3%, to 2,572.36.
In Taiwan, the Taiex index came back to gain 54.13 points, or 0.5%, to 10,774.61.
In New Zealand, the NZX 50 restocked 14.75 points, or 0.1%, to 10,490.73.
In Australia, the ASX 200 sprang back to life 87.22 points, or 1.6%, to 5,407.07.
