Asia’s benchmark stock gauge climbed, trading at an almost seven-year high, as industrial and healthcare shares led the advance.
Central Japan Railway Co. gained 1.2 percent in Tokyo, boosting the industrial industry group. Celltrion Inc. jumped 8.6 percent in Seoul, extending yesterday’s gains after EBEST Investment & Securities Co. initiated coverage on the biopharma company with a buy rating. Orix Corp. slid 0.9 percent in Tokyo after its Chief Executive Officer said the financial services firm is in early talks to purchase a US fund manager, Bloomberg reported.
The MSCI Asia Pacific Index added 0.3 percent to 153.08 as of 9:30 a.m. in Tokyo, after closing Monday at its highest since May 2008. Hong Kong shares are the world’s biggest advancers this month, with benchmark gauges in Japan and mainland China also posting gains. The 14-day Relative Strength Index on the Asian regional index was at 76 Monday, trading above 70 for a fourth day. Some traders use a reading above 70 as a signal stocks are poised to drop.
“This is a positioning led rally as investors are rotating out of the US and into Asia, especially Japan and most recently Hong Kong,” said David Welch, head of equity sales trading at Reorient Group in Hong Kong. “Investors, especially global investors, are still too underweight Hong Kong and China. Any dips will be aggressively bought.”
Japan’s Topix index gained 0.3 percent in Tokyo, while South Korea’s Kospi index added 0.1 percent. New Zealand’s NZX 50 Index gained 0.1 percent, while Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 Index lost 0.4 percent.
Futures on Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index were little changed in most recent trading. The underlying measure rallied for an eighth day yesterday, pushing its RSI to the highest since 1989.
E-mini futures on the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index added less than 0.1 percent after the underlying gauge declined 0.5 percent on Monday. General Electric Co. retreated from a six-year high, leading industrial companies lower while investors awaited this week’s corporate earnings reports.
