Asian shares rally after Wall Street logs rare winning week

BANGKOK (AP) — Asian shares advanced Monday after Wall Street ended a rare winning week, capped by a 3.1% gain on Friday for the benchmark S&P 500. U.S. futures and oil prices also were higher.

Optimism over China’s progress in controlling coronavirus outbreaks, as schools and businesses reopen, was also fueling buying, analysts said.

Stocks climbed last week as pressure from rising Treasury yields let up somewhat and investors speculated the Federal Reserve may not have to be as aggressive about raising interest rates as earlier thought as it fights to control inflation. That gave Wall Street a reprieve from its recent tumbles.

Hong Kong's Hang Seng index led regional gains, surging 2.8% to 22,326.53, while the Nikkei 225 in Tokyo gained 1% to 26,768.77. In South Korea, the Kospi climbed 1.9% to 6,706.40.

Australia's S&P/ASX 200 added 1.9% to 6,706.40 while the Shanghai Composite index rose 1.2% to 3,388.38.

The future for the S&P 500 was 0.3% higher while that for the Dow industrials was up 0.2%.

Markets seemed unfazed by the possibility that Russia might default on its foreign debt for the first time since the 1917 Bolshevik Revolution, further alienating the country from the global financial system amid its war in Ukraine.

Russia faces a Sunday night deadline to meet a 30-day grace period on interest payments originally due May 27. But it could take time to confirm a default.

Positive news about inflation helped push stocks in New York higher on Friday, but the boost to sentiment may prove ephemeral, “largely because the downward trend for equity indices remains intact and we have seen previous instances of a single event pertaining to inflation, economic outlook and central banks’ policies bringing back market jitters and reversing dip-buying...