BEIJING (AP) – Asian stock markets followed Wall Street higher on Monday after China and Australia tightened antivirus controls that threaten to hurt an economic recovery.
Shanghai, Hong Kong, South Korea and Sydney have advanced. Japanese markets were closed for a public holiday.
Wall Street ended at a new high on Friday after a government report showed the US job market was improving.
Investors were encouraged by higher US corporate earnings and the spread of coronavirus vaccinations around the world. But the spread of the Delta variant has led some governments to reintroduce controls on business and travel.
China reintroduced travel controls to halt a number of outbreaks. Australia’s two most populous states have advised the public to stay home except to go to work or for a handful of other reasons.
“The right question for everyone, including financial market participants, is when will other economies go into lockdown,” said Carl B. Weinberg of High Frequency Economics in a report. “This is central bankers’ worst nightmare to come true.”
The Shanghai Composite Index gained 0.5% to 3,475.78 and the Hong Kong Hang Seng rose 0.8% to 26,406.36.
The Seoul Kospi rose less than 0.1% to 3,273.47 and the Sydney S&P ASX 200 gained 0.2% to 7,557.20.
New Zealand and Jakarta, Indonesia won while Bangkok fell.
China has largely cut off access to a city of 1.5 million people, canceled airlines and urged the public to avoid travel whenever possible after a spate of cases related to overseas travelers infected with the Delta variant.
Australian central bank governor Philip Lowe warned Friday that the economy is likely to contract in the quarter ending September after New South Wales, where populous Sydney is located, and Victoria declared health emergencies with Melbourne and large corporations.
On Friday, Wall Street’s S&P 500 benchmark index rose 0.2% to 4,436.52. The index closed the week 0.9%.
The Labor Department reported that 943,000 employees were added in July, well above projections, and wages rose.
Economists said the report will give the Federal Reserve yet another reason to cut back on bond purchases, which pump money into the financial system.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.4% to 35,208.51. The Nasdaq fell 0.4% to 14,835.76.
In the energy markets, the US crude oil benchmark in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange fell $ 1.49 a barrel to $ 66.79. The contract fell 81 cents to $ 68.28 on Friday. Brent crude, the price standard for international oils, lost $ 1.50 to $ 69.20 a barrel in London. In the previous session it fell 59 cents to $ 70.62.
The dollar fell to 110.21 yen from 110.23 on Friday. The euro rose from $ 1.1758 to $ 1.1762.
Copyright 2021 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed in any way without permission.
Comments are closed.