Japan’s Nikkei 225 climbed 2.20%, South Korea’s kospi advanced 0.74%, Australia’s ASX 200 gained 1.13% and Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index rose 0.68%
Asia Pacific stocks were up Friday morning after the U.S. released solid economic data. U.S. President Joe Biden also reportedly plans to propose a $6 trillion budget for the 2022 fiscal year.
Japan’s Nikkei 225 climbed 2.20% by 3:25 AM GMT. The country plans to extend its Covid-19 state of emergency that covers eight prefectures, including Tokyo. If implemented, the state of emergency will be extended to June 20, a month before the Tokyo Olympic Games are due to begin.
South Korea’s kospi advanced 0.74% and in Australia, the ASX 200 gained 1.13%. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index rose 0.68%. China’s Shanghai Composite edged up 0.01% and the Shenzhen Component edged up 0.04%.
U.S. President Biden will reportedly propose the budget in the coming fiscal year later in the day.
The White House has decided to release what is arguably the most important policy document of the year on a Friday afternoon before a three-day weekend at the start of a congressional recess, when it is likely to receive little attention, rather than the traditional Monday morning release when Congress is in session, Goldman Sachs Group Inc. analysts said in a note.
Investors have already been concerned that the scale of stimulus measures will lead to inflation, which eventually forces the Fed to taper asset purchases and tighten lending rates faster than expected. However, more spending will help world growth, global equities increase, and investors’ confidence, according to Kyle Rodda, a market analyst at IG.
This is a market that’s blown off a little bit of froth over the last three weeks, but there’s nothing that’s occurred to suggest that the bull market in stocks is under any imminent threat, maybe momentum has slowed down, and that could remain the case for a little while, but the bull market is still pretty strong, Rodda told Reuters.
Investors now await further data, including April’s Core Personal Consumption Expenditure Price Index and Personal Spending, due later in the day.
