Asian Stocks Rise As Markets Digest Oil Rally, China Tech Soars

Asian stock markets followed Wall Street higher on Tuesday ahead of a Federal Reserve decision on another possible interest rate hike amid worries about global banks. Shanghai, Hong Kong and Seoul advanced. Japanese markets were closed for a holiday. Oil prices declined.

Fears global banks might be cracking under the strain of interest rate hikes to cool inflation temporarily pushed aside unease about slowing economic growth. Some calm has returned after regulators announced measures to shore up the system.

The Shanghai Shenzhen CSI 300 and China‘s Shanghai Composite Index rose 0.9% and 0.6%, respectively, supported mostly by shares of major electronics manufacturers after Beijing opened an investigation into the local sales of US memory chip maker Micron Technology Inc. While Chinese investigations point to worsening trade relations between Beijing and Washington, any disruption in Micron’s China sales opens up the market for local players.

Shares of major chip makers China Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corp and SG Micro Corp each rose more than 2% on Monday. The market appeared to be largely ignoring a private survey showing growth in China‘s manufacturing sector slowed in March from the previous month. The post-COVID economic rebound appears to be running out of steam, with China’s manufacturing sector facing increasing headwinds from sluggish demand.

Hong Kongs Hang Seng Index fell 0.6%, with local technology stocks, most of which are also US listings, losing the most. Broader Asian markets rose as weaker-than-expected US personal consumption spending data from last week boosted hopes that inflation is easing, necessitating less hawkish steps by the Federal Reserve.

Indeks Nikkei 225 Jepang naik 0,5%, sementara indeks Nifty 50 dan BSE Sensex 30 India masing-masing naik 0,2%. Tetapi lonjakan harga minyak pada hari Senin, menyusul penurunan produksi yang mengejutkan oleh Organisasi Negara Pengekspor Minyak dan sekutunya (OPEC+), menimbulkan beberapa kekhawatiran atas potensi kebangkitan inflasi, terutama jika harga bahan bakar tetap tinggi. Ini juga dapat menarik lebih banyak tindakan pengetatan moneter oleh bank sentral utama, khususnya The Fed. Gagasan ini membuat kenaikan di pasar Asia terbatas pada hari Senin.

The focus this week is also on central bank meetings and economic readings. The central banks of Australia and India will decide on interest rates this week, while US nonfarm payrolls data is expected to offer more clues about the US monetary policy path. Australias ASX 200 rose 0.6%, amid some bets that the Reserve Bank will end its rate hike cycle as soon as Tuesday, after two straight months of reducing inflation. But some traders still expect banks to raise at least 25 basis points more.