Asian stocks track Wall Street gains, ECB underpins

By FXStreet FXStreet (Mumbai) – The stocks on the Asian bourses had a flying start and climb further, following the Wall Street sharply higher, as the latest ECB presser signalled at further QE expansion/extension later this year, boosted the corporate sector.

ECB hints & RBA rate cut bets drive Asia higher

The Japanese stocks opened higher and extend gains into the second straight session as risk-on sentiment weighed on the yen, thereby lifting exports stocks. Meanwhile, USD/JPY faded a spike to 121 and now trades flat at 120.70 and the Nikkei rallies 2.22% to 18,845 points. The rally in the Japanese stocks was further boosted by impressive Japan’s flash manufacturing PMI, which came in at the highest levels since March 2014.

The Australian benchmark, the S&P/ASX jumped over 1.60% to 5,352 led by the banking stocks after the NAB hiked the mortgage rates following CBA’s move on Thursday. While growing expectations of an interest rate cut by the Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) also boosted the stocks.

Stocks on the Chinese indices also track the positive cues from their Asian counterparts, with the mainland’s China’s Shanghai Composite index, up 0.22% at 3,376. While Hong Kong’s Hang Seng gains 1.30% to 23,145.
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Source:: FX Street