BEIJING, Feb. 2 (BNA): Stock prices in Tokyo and Sydney followed a rally on Wall Street on Wednesday while markets in China, South Korea and Southeast Asia were closed for the Lunar New Year.
Wall Street’s benchmark S&P 500 index rose 0.7% on Tuesday, buoyed by gains in energy and technology stocks in a late buying spree.
The Nikkei 225 in Tokyo rose 1.8% to 27552.61 and the S&P-ASX 200 in Sydney rose 1.3% to 7,094.80.
India’s Sensex Index opened 0.9% higher at 59403.16. New Zealand’s benchmark index rose 1.9% after the government reported a record low unemployment rate of 3.2% in the fourth quarter of 2021. Jakarta also advanced, according to the Press Agency (AP).
US stocks have fallen off their worst month since the pandemic began nearly two years ago.
Investors are trying to see how the economy and corporate profits will be affected by the Federal Reserve’s upcoming interest rate hike, which aims to cool inflation that has jumped to a four-decade high.
On Tuesday, the S&P 500 rose to 4,546.54. It’s 5.2% below the January 3 high.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.8% to 35405.24. The Nasdaq compound added 0.7% to 14,346.
Exxon Mobil shares rose 6.4 percent after the company reported strong fourth-quarter earnings. Hewlett-Packard Enterprise shares rose 2.9 percent.
The virus pandemic remains an ongoing threat and each new variable could lead to an increase in cases threatening business and consumer activity.
Fed officials said in mid-December that plans to end bond purchases and other price-boosting stimulus would be accelerated to cool inflation.
Consumers continued to spend despite price hikes, but forecasters of retail purchases could weaken and hamper economic growth.
Investors expect the Fed to raise interest rates at least four times this year, starting in March.
On Friday, the Labor Department announced US employment for January.
In energy markets, benchmark US crude rose 27 cents to $88.47 a barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. The contract rose 5 cents on Tuesday to $88.20. Brent crude, the price basis for global oils, added 30 cents to $89.46 a barrel in London. It fell 10 cents the previous session to $89.16.
The dollar rose to 114.76 yen from 114.71 yen on Tuesday. The euro rose to $1.1274 from $1.1254.
HF