Shares in Asia rise as US interest rate hike worries ease
Weak US data adds to expectations the Federal Reserve will delay hiking interest rates.
Weak US data adds to expectations the Federal Reserve will delay hiking interest rates.
Shares in Asia rose today (October 15th), boosted by a global rally, after weak economic data added to expectations the Federal Reserve would keep its monetary policy unchanged until 2016.
Fresh US retail sales and producer prices data were weaker than expected, supporting an increasingly popular view that the Federal Reserve will not start raising interest rates this year.
"The third-quarter selloff created a lot of value so people are getting involved again," Tim Condon, head of Asia research at ING in Singapore told Bloomberg.
"Data out of the US is reinforcing that US monetary policy isn’t a threat and that helps market sentiment. China’s policy remains accommodative. Except for the ringgit, which has some issues, other currencies could claw back their third-quarter depreciations," he added.
Japan’s Nikkei 225 gained 1.2 per cent to 18,096.90 while Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index rose two per cent to 22,888.17. South Korea's Kospi was up 1.2 per cent to 2,033.27 and Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 edged up 0.6 per cent to 5,230.00. The Shanghai Composite Index jumped 2.3 per cent to 3,338.07.