Asia-Pacific markets tracked Wall Street gains on Monday as a softer-than-expected U.S. jobs report fueled hopes that the Federal Reserve could start cutting rates soon.
Stock markets in Japan and Korea were shut for public holidays.
In Hong Kong, the Hang Seng Index gained 102.38 points or 0.6%, 18,578.30.
Investors, meanwhile, awaited the Reserve Bank of Australia’s rate decision on Tuesday and China’s April trade data on Thursday.
ING said in a note last week that the RBA meeting was “worth watching closely,” adding that recent inflation data from Australia showed growth in prices was starting to accelerate.
However, the analysts said Australia’s inflation data was better than they had expected, and compared to the US, the country’s economy had slowed more with the labor market softening substantially. As such, they forecast no change to the RBA’s rate of 4.35%.
In other markets
In Shanghai, the CSI 300 jumped 53.49 points, or 1.5%, to 4,657.88.
In Singapore, the Straits Times Index acquired 10.26 points, or 0.3%, to 3,303.19.
In Taiwan, the Taiex index recovered 107.88 points, or 0.5%, to 20,330.87.
In New Zealand, the NZX 50 index gained 64.05 points, or 0.5%, to 11,938.08.
In Australia, the ASX 200 advanced 42 points, or 0.6%, to 7,628.97.
