Markets advanced in Asia on Friday following a Wall Street rally driven by strong jobs data.
Tokyo’s Nikkei 225 index NIK, +0.72% picked up 0.7%, and Hong Kong’s Hang Seng HSI, +0.99% rose 0.9% while the Shanghai Composite index SHCOMP, +2.01% jumped 2%. In South Korea, the Kospi 180721, +0.79% gained 0.8%, and Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 XJO, +0.41% rose 0.4%. Shares also rose in Taiwan Y9999, +0.88% and Southeast Asia.
The jobs data and improved global indicators are boosting sentiment, along with positive reports on potential vaccines and treatments for the coronavirus that has infected more than 10.8 million people and killed over 520,000, according to data from Johns Hopkins University that experts say understates the tally due to issues with testing and asymptomatic cases.
Such news brought a “favorable turn in the risk merry go round this week as this positive news is currently tempering the seemingly endless negative views around the rapidly-rising new daily virus cases in the U.S.,” Stephen Innes of AxiCorp said in a commentary.
Overnight, the S&P 500 rose 0.5%, its fourth straight gain, ending the holiday-shortened week with a gain of 4%. U.S. markets are closed Friday in observance of Independence Day.
The Nasdaq composite climbed to another all-time high, aided by more gains in technology companies. Energy companies notched some of the biggest gains as oil prices strengthened on hopes that a recovering economy will mean more demand.
However, news that Florida had another sharp increase in confirmed cases helped cut the S&P 500’s early gains by more than half. The bond market also signaled caution, as yields moved broadly lower.
A recent surge in new confirmed cases of the coronavirus in Florida, Texas and several other states has led some governors to halt the reopening of their economies or to order some businesses, such as restaurants and bars, to reclose. That has dimmed some of the optimism for a relatively quick economic turnaround, especially for travel-related sectors like cruise lines.
Even so, investors continue to bet that the recovery will proceed, despite the worrying rise in new cases.
The S&P 500 SPX, +0.45% rose 14.15 points to 3,130.01. The Dow Jones Industrial Average DJIA, +0.35% gained 0.4% to 25,827.36. The Nasdaq COMP, +0.52% climbed 0.5% to 10,207.63.
