Asian stocks follow Wall Street higher on recovery hopes
BEIJING (AP) — Asian stock markets and U.S. futures rose Monday as investors looked past dismal American jobs and other data toward hopes for a global recovery from the coronavirus pandemic.
Benchmarks in Tokyo, Hong Kong and Southeast Asia advanced. Shanghai was off 0.1%.
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.
Tokyo’s Nikkei 225 gained 1% to 20,390.66 and the Hang Seng in Hong Kong added 1.4% to 24,571.74. The Shanghai Composite Index declined to 2,891.06.
The Kospi in Seoul was off 0.4% at 1,938.38 while Sydney’s S&P-ASX 200 added 1.4% to 5,468.80. India's Sensex opened up 0.7% at 31,852.00 and New Zealand, Singapore and Jakarta also advanced.
On Wall Street, futures for the benchmark S&P 500 index and Dow Jones Industrial Average were up 0.2%.
On Friday, the S&P 500 Index rose 1.7% to 2,929.80 for its fourth gain in five days. The Dow 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.
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