Asian Shares Rise After Record Highs on Wall Street

Asian stocks rose on Monday as a dovish speech by US Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell and all-time highs on Wall Street gave markets a breather from trade tensions.

Japan’s benchmark Nikkei 225 index added 1% to 22,819.02 and South Korea’s Kospi rose 0.3% to 2,300.18. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng jumped 2% to 28,219.33. The Shanghai Composite rebounded 1.6% to 2,772.11. Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 gained 0.4% to 6,268.90. Taiwan’s benchmark rose and Southeast Asian indexes were mostly higher, AP reported.

“Powell’s Jackson Hole speech essentially confirmed the need for further gradual rate hikes and stressed that higher interest rates have served the economy well. However, rate rises remain data-dependent, and other Fed officials reiterated that ‘nothing is predetermined’,” ANZ analysts said in a note on Monday.

Major US indexes finished higher on Friday, lifted by strong corporate earnings amid uncertainty from simmering trade tensions between the US and China. The benchmark S&P 500 index closed at an all-time high, adding 0.6% to 2,874.69. It has now finished with a weekly gain in seven out of the last eight weeks.

The Nasdaq composite and the Russell 2000 indexes also ended the day at all-time highs. The Nasdaq gained 0.9% to 7,945.98. The Russell 2000 index of smaller-company stocks picked up 0.5% to 1,725.67. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.5%, to 25,790.35.

Benchmark US crude added 5 cents to $68.77 a barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. The contract gained 1.3% to settle at $68.72 per barrel on Friday. Brent crude, used to price international oils, picked up 7 cents to $75.89 in London.

The dollar eased to 111.07 yen from 111.20 yen in late trading Friday. The euro dropped to $1.1618 from $1.1625.

Gold was slightly higher as the dollar weakened. Spot gold gained 0.1% to trade at $1206.66 per ounce.