The Asian market opened Tuesday’s trading session mostly up. The optimism is evident as the US Secretary of Treasury nominee is due to deliver progress on stimulus measures later in the day.
The hike came after the majority of the bourses traded mixed in the previous session.
Analysts noted that the day’s gains are also propelled by the positive economic data from China which was released yesterday.
It is only now that investors have fully digested the positive implications of the better than expected output by the world’s second-largest economy.
Analysts noted that the positive GDP update could be a catalyst for a return to growth progress in the region.
Despite this, Chinese stocks failed to sustain the momentum garnered in the previous session and barely made movements during the session.
The Shanghai Composite Index reported a conservative 0.01% hike while its counterpart, the Shenzhen Component, fell by 0.09%.
The lukewarm performance came amid the robust industrial performance and the 6.5% year on year jump in GDP for the fourth quarter.
In the latest charts, the Nikkei 225 regained foothold after a 1.22% hike. The bourse again moves towards notching a 30-year high which was surpassed earlier in the year.
Consequently, KOSPI garnered a more significant jump with a 2.4% increase. In Hong Kong, the Hang Seng index hiked by 1.74% following policymakers’ meeting.
On Monday, the country’s advisory panel convened to decide on the approval of the Pfizer and BioNTech-developed Covid-19 vaccine commonly termed as COMIRNATY.
The result came with unanimous approval for the emergency use of the inoculation, giving hopes for a swifter transition back to normal.
Is the Stock Market Nearing a Trough?
Across the Pacific, Australia’s ASX 200 was updated with a 1.24% hike. This came after Queensland announced the lifting of mobility restrictions adopted to curb the spread of the virus.
Despite starting the year in record highs, the stock market is currently failing to maintain the momentum notched at the beginning.
Sessions are mostly quiet, barely making significant rallies in the previous weeks.
In the United States, Wall Street is relatively steadier than normal ahead of the formal change of administrations tomorrow.
In the latest update, the US’ broadest index, S&P 500 futures added 0.51% while the Nasdaq futures hiked by 0.59%.
Experts in the field noted that the seemingly quiet session is brought by investors’ apprehension ahead of the oath-taking.
On the other hand, some argued that the stock market may be nearing a slump following the return to normal optimism with vaccination progress.
