Asian Equities Set for Second Weekly Gain

Asian stocks headed for a second weekly advance as Hong Kong stocks held a two-day surge. Australia’s dollar gained and U.S. oil headed for its fourth straight week of increase.

The MSCI Asia Pacific Index was set for a 2.4 percent gain on the week by 11:07 a.m. in Tokyo, weakening 0.2 percent as the Hang Seng Index fluctuated near a seven-year high. Standard & Poor’s 500 Index futures lost 0.1 percent. The Aussie rose a fourth day as the Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index pared its first Monday-to-Friday gain since March 13. U.S. oil is up 3.2 percent since April 2.

The value of global equities rose to a record $69.8 trillion this week, as Hong Kong stocks soared amid frenzied buying by mainland Chinese investors and speculation the government will do more to support growth in the world’s No. 2 economy. Stimulus from Asia to Europe is spurring stock gains, even as the U.S. heads toward tightening policy as soon as this year. China’s producer prices fell 4.6 percent in March, extending a record stretch of declines to 37 months.

Bloomberg

Content is for general information purposes only. It is not investment advice or a solution to buy or sell securities. Opinions are the authors; not necessarily that of OANDA Business Information & Services, Inc. or any of its affiliates, subsidiaries, officers or directors. If you would like to reproduce or redistribute any of the content found on MarketPulse, an award winning forex, commodities and global indices analysis and news site service produced by OANDA Business Information & Services, Inc., please access the RSS feed or contact us at info@marketpulse.com. Visit https://www.marketpulse.com/ to find out more about the beat of the global markets. © 2023 OANDA Business Information & Services Inc.