Main Asian stock indexes rose on Friday, tracking the upward trend seen on Wall Street overnight as a result of the US economy’s stronger-than-expected growth. In the fourth quarter, the US economy grew at an annualized rate of 2.9%, according to official figures, which exceeded economists’ projections.
Traders were also digesting Tokyo’s core consumer prices, which increased 4.3%, quicker than expected.
The Nikkei 225 in Japan was flat in the opening minutes of trading at 9:10 a.m. (Thai time). Yields on 10-year Japanese government bonds have risen by over 3 percentage points, with recent trading reaching 0.476%. This level is close to the upper limit of the yield curve tolerance range set by the Bank of Japan.
The S&P/ASX 200 index in Australia rose by 0.37%. The Kospi in South Korea gained by 0.34%.
In Hong Kong, the Hang Seng index fell by 0.29%.
Meanwhile, mainland China is still closed due to the Lunar New Year holiday.
Stocks rose on Wall Street as investors digested the latest corporate earnings, powered by a tech sector rally fueled by Tesla’s strong performance. There was a rise in the Nasdaq Composite of 1.76%, the Dow Jones Industrial Average of 0.61%, and the S&P 500 gained 1.10%.
The U.S. economy expanded faster than expected in the fourth quarter of 2022 as consumers in the world’s largest economy maintained a solid pace of spending. The growth beat economists expectations by Reuters poll that forecast a 2.6% growth.
Even with rising spending in the fourth quarter, data showed that momentum had shifted to a snail pace by the end of the year amid higher interest rates that eroded consumers’ demand.
For 2022, the U.S. economy grew 2.1%, down from the 5.9% in 2021.
