Asia-Pacific markets were mostly buoyant on Tuesday while bitcoin continued to rise after a recent rebound. Meanwhile, Australia’s central bank says inflation will peak by the end of the year.
In Japan, the Nikkei 225 re-strengthened 475.09 points, or 1.8%, to 26,246.31. Shares of conglomerate SoftBank Group surged by nearly 3%.
The Japanese yen traded at 135.19 per U.S. dollar, weakening from levels below 134 seen last week.
In Hong Kong, the Hang Seng index gained 395.68 points, or 1.9%, to 21,559.59, with tech stock Tencent picking up 2.3% and Alibaba posting a gain of 1.3%.
The Reserve Bank of Australia governor Philip Lowe said in a speech that he expected inflation in Australia to peak at around 7% by the end of the year as pandemic-related supply chain disruptions resolve.
Lowe said monetary policy tightening and interest rate hikes globally would work together to drive down inflation by creating a balance between the demand and supply of goods.
Meeting minutes released this morning showed the bank had leaned towards more tightening amid a resilient economy with record-low unemployment rates.
The Australian dollar was at $0.6981, still softer than last week’s trade of above $0.70.
In other markets
In Shanghai, the CSI 300 lost 4.86 points, or 0.1%, to 4,325.57.
In Singapore, the Straits Times Index pointed higher 21.08 points, or 0.7%, to 3,117.48.
In Taiwan, the Taiex index recovered 361.06 points, or 2.4%, to 15,728.64.
In Korea, the Kospi gained back 17.9 points, or 0.8%, to 2,408.93.
In New Zealand, the NZX 50 regained 113.39 points, or 1.1%, to 10,701.59.
In Australia, moved higher 90.44 points, or 1.4%, to 6,523.81.
