Asian stocks follow Wall Street higher on recovery hopes

Asian stocks follow Wall Street higher on recovery hopes

SeattlePI.com

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BEIJING (AP) — Asian stock markets rose Monday after Wall Street advanced as investors looked past dismal U.S. jobs and other data toward hopes for a global recovery from the coronavirus pandemic.

Benchmarks in Shanghai, Tokyo, Hong Kong and Southeast Asia advanced.

U.S. shares gained Friday despite a government report that American employers cut a record-setting 20.5 million jobs in April.

Investor optimism is gaining as China and some other countries begin to revive their economies. But with infection numbers still rising in the United States, Brazil and some other countries, analysts warn a global recovery might be some way off.

“While the argument that forward-looking market hopes of recovery should override backward looking economic gloom may not be groundless, it inevitably understates inherent fragilities and risks,” said Riki Ogawa of Mizuho Bank in a report.

The Shanghai Composite Index rose 0.3% to 2,902.95 and Tokyo’s Nikkei 225 gained 1.4% to 20,458.65. The Hang Seng in Hong Kong advanced 1.9% to 24,687.04.

The Kospi in Seoul was 0.2% higher at 1,949.38 and Sydney’s S&P-ASX 200 added 1.2% to 5,457.40. New Zealand, Singapore and Jakarta also advanced.

On Friday, Wall Street’s benchmark S&P 500 Index rose 1.7% to 2,929.80 for its fourth gain in five days. The Dow Jones Industrial Average added 1.9% to 24,331.32. The Nasdaq composite rose 1.6% to 9,121.32.

Investors looked ahead to a week filled with data announcements including European factory output and trade, U.S. unemployment claims and retail sales and Australian jobs.

Markets got a jolt Sunday when one of Latin America’s largest airlines, Chile’s Avianca, asked a New York City bankruptcy court for protection from creditors while the carrier reorganizes amid a travel slump it...

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