Asian equities rose on Tuesday, building on a late rally that saw US stocks lure bids near the close amid holiday-thinned trading, while the South Korean central bank kept interest rates at 3.5%, as expected.
As of 9:31 AM (Bangkok Time), the Kospi in South Korea was up 1.14%. Bank of Korea interest rates were left unchanged for a second month in a row as the country struggled with inflation of 4.2%.
The S&P/ASX 200 in Australia gained 1.39%. The Nikkei 225 rose 1.46% in Japan.
The Hang Seng in Hong Kong climbed 0.83%.
The Shanghai Composite Index on the Chinese mainland fell by 0.1%. China’s inflation reading came in lower than expected at 0.7%.
Overnight on Wall Street, the S&P 500 rose fractionally as traders anticipated crucial inflation data later in the week.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.3%, while the Nasdaq Composite fell 0.03%, as tech companies fell, with Apple down 1.6% and Alphabet (parent company of Google) down 1.8%.
In anticipation of Wednesday’s report on consumer prices, which is expected to show a 0.4% monthly increase in core CPI, traders increased their odds on a May rate hike in the US.
According to a research released by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) on Monday, rather than returning to a real neutral interest rate of 1.5% to 2%, as proposed by former US Treasury Secretary Lawrence Summers, rates in the United States and other industrial countries are likely to retreat toward ultra-low levels.
