Hong Kong Stocks Up As Asian Markets Claw Back

Hong Kong shares finished Tuesday morning slightly higher as an easing of lockdown measures in various countries and signs of an easing in the pandemic offset data showing the city's economy contracted sharply in the first quarter.

The Hang Seng Index added 0.5 percent, to 23,742 by the break.

Markets on the mainland, Tokyo, and Seoul were all closed for public holidays..

Other Asian markets clawed back some of Monday's steep losses, though there remains a sense of caution on fears of a second wave of infection and as traders contemplate a long recovery from the economic destruction.

Sydney, Singapore, Manila and Jakarta put on more than 1 percent. Wellington added 0.7 percent and Taipei gained 0.9 percent.

Stephen Innes of AxiCorp said: "It remains to be seen if [Monday's] equity market weakness was a bump in the road or the start of something more sinister as coronavirus blame-game and a looming US presidential election are a toxic recipe for US-China relations."

However, others said the issue was not likely to play on dealers' minds too much for now.

"At this point of time we think this is more of a risk to monitor rather than something that breaks the fundamental economic story,” Chetan Ahya, at Morgan Stanley, told Bloomberg TV.

"We are more focused on what the policy reactions which every government and central bank is taking up and I think that’s a more important driver right now for the economy." (AFP)

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