Asian stocks rose for the first time in three days, driven by exporters and Hong Kong shares, while European and US equity-index futures gained. The dollar strengthened, while oil slipped.
The MSCI Asia Pacific Index climbed 0.8 percent at 7:09 a.m. in London, while Standard & Poor’s 500 Index futures added 0.4 percent and those on the Euro Stoxx 50 index increased 0.5 percent. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index rose 1.9 percent, rebounding from a 2 percent drop on Monday. The euro depreciated 0.3 percent versus the greenback and the Australian dollar slid 0.5 percent. Oil in New York fell 0.3 percent to $56.14 a barrel, Bloomberg reported.
Stocks in Hong Kong and China have surged this month amid speculation that government stimulus will revive a mainland economy expanding at the weakest pace since 2009. New York Federal Reserve President William C. Dudley said he’s optimistic a rebound in US growth will warrant higher interest rates this year. Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras ordered local governments to move their funds to the central bank as the country’s cash crunch intensifies.
Hong Kong
The Hang Seng China Enterprises Index of mainland companies traded in Hong Kong gained 1.4 percent. China Mobile Ltd., the world’s biggest carrier by users, jumped the most since January 2009 after reporting earnings. The move accounted for almost 25 percent of the Hang Seng Index’s net advance.
The Hong Kong dollar was little changed at 7.75 to the greenback after the city’s defacto central bank injected 11.586 billion ($1.49 billion) to defend the currency’s peg against inflows on Monday.
The Shanghai Composite Index increased 0.6 percent after falling from a seven-year high on record turnover Monday. A subindex of property shares fell as much as 4 percent after Kaisa Group Holdings Ltd. became the first Chinese real estate company to default on its US currency debt.
