Investing.com – Asian stocks gained some ground in early morning trade Thursday as investors found some perspective on concerns over political turmoil in Italy and some buying opportunities after days of heavy drops.
Following the lead of U.S. stock markets, which rallied on Wednesday, the major Asian stock markets in Tokyo, Hong Kong, Seoul, Singapore and mainland China all opened in positive territory.
The S&P 500 Index closed up 1.27% on Wednesday and the Dow finished up 1.26%. The tech-heavy Nasdaq closed up 0.89%.
The early morning gains gave markets a respite despite signals from the administration of U.S. President Donald Trump that tariffs on Chinese goods will be implemented and uncertainty over the off-again-on-again summit between Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un.
In a statement Tuesday, the White House said it would release a list of US$50 billion worth of imported goods to be targeted by tariffs by June 15. China said it would respond to any unilateral measures. Still, the U.S. announcement sent 85% of all stocks on the Shanghai Stock Exchange into the red on Wednesday and Hong Kong stocks down by 1.4% for the day.
On Thursday morning, however, Japan’s Nikkei 225 was up 0.50% by 9:30PM ET (01:30 GMT) a day after the Bank of Japan released retail sales numbers that beat expectations while the jobless rate held steady at 2.5% in April, in line with expectations, while the availability of jobs also remained unchanged.
Holding back the optimism in Japan was the release of iindustrial production figures, which rose 0.3% in April from a month earlier, much lower than the expected 1.4% increase. Year-on-year figures rose 2.5%, also lower than the expected 3.6% hike.
Japan Display Inc (T:6740) shares continued to dive in fall in morning trade in Tokyo and were down 3.28% by 9:00PM ET. The route that started on May 29 with a fall of more than 20% was caused by reports in South Korean media reported that Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) had decided to use OLED screens for all new iPhone models starting next year.
In Seoul, the KOSPI was up 0.56% and, in Australia, the ASX 200 was up 0.49%.
Stocks in Hong Kong were also up 0.46% at the open.
Further north, China’s Shanghai Composite and SZSE Component were up 0.84% and 0.85%.
China reported the official manufacturing Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI) for May came in at 51.9, beating market expectations of a 51.3 reading that would have been lower than the 51.4 reported in April. The services PMI came in at 54.9, up from 54.8 in April, with a number above 50 signalling expansion.
A stock rout Tuesday in North America and Europe and Wednesday in Asia had been driven in large part by concerns that new elections in Italy might spark fresh debate about a break-up of the euro. Those concerns were eased when the country’s two anti-establishment parties renewed efforts to build a coalition rather than force elections. Italy also successfully auctioned off five and 10-year bonds.
Adding to the concerns was Spain, where Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy is set to face a vote of confidence on Friday.