Asian Shares Rise After Wall Street Rally

(RTTNews) - Asian stocks rose broadly on Monday amid renewed bets the U.S. Federal Reserve may slow the pace of interest-rate increases at its December meeting.

With U.S. inflation largely untamed at around a 40-year high, investors looked ahead to the Federal Reserve meeting on Tuesday and Wednesday and U.S. jobs data due on Friday for additional clues on the economic and rate outlook.

Chinese and Hong Kong shares underperformed regional peers as weak economic data added to concerns about slowing growth.

China's official manufacturing purchasing managers' index (PMI) fell to 49.2 in October from 50.1 in September, and the non-manufacturing PMI, which measures business sentiment in the services and construction sectors, dropped to 48.7 from 50.6 in September as virus disruptions worsened and export orders remained under pressure, separate reports showed.

COVID-19 infections continued to rise across China's southern manufacturing hub of Guangzhou, prompting lockdowns in more residential areas.

Mamau's government reinstated some tough COVID curbs and workers appear to have fled the iPhone factory in Zhengzhou amid COVID curbs, raising concerns over China and its strict zero-COVID policy.

China's Shanghai Composite index fell 0.77 percent to 2,893.48 while Hong Kong's Hang Seng index tumbled 1.18 percent to 14,687.02.

Japanese shares rallied as investors reacted to mixed economic readings. Industrial production dropped for the first time in four months in September, but retail sales grew more than expected, showing some resilience in the Japanese economy.

The Nikkei average rallied 1.78 percent to 27,587.46, marking a six-week high. The broader Topix index closed 1.60 percent higher at 1,929.43.

Tech stocks such as Advantest and Tokyo Electron rose 1-2 percent. Hitachi soared 6 percent after the conglomerate raised its profit forecast.

Seoul stocks climbed even as weak industrial output, retail sales and facility investment figures suggested the country's economic recovery may be losing steam. The Kospi average gained 1.11 percent to finish at 2,293.61, led by gains in the tech sector.

Australian shares rose to post their best monthly gain sine March as data showed retail spending stayed surprisingly resilient in September despite surging inflation and higher interest rates.

The benchmark S&P ASX 200 rose 1.15 percent to 6,863.50 and posted a 6 percent gain for October. as investors braced for a modest interest rate hike by Reserve Bank on Tuesday. The broader All Ordinaries index ended 1.17 percent higher at 7,054.80.

Origin Energy shares jumped nearly 3 percent after the company reported strong performance in its Integrated Gas and Energy Markets divisions.

Across the Atlantic, New Zealand's benchmark NZX-50 index jumped 1.88 percent to settle at 11,338.43.

U.S. stocks rose sharply on Friday as fresh data pointing to slowing inflation and solid readings on personal income and spending outweighed weak earnings reports from mega-cap technology companies.

The Dow climbed 2.6 percent to hit a two-month closing high and book its longest winning streak since November 2021, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite surged 2.9 percent and the S&P 500 added 2.5 percent.