Asian stock market: Bulls cheer Hang Sang’s +3.0% gains amid relief rally

Asian equities witness the sea of green, led by stocks in Hong Kong and China, ahead of Monday’s European session. While US President Donald Trump’s refrain from any sanctions on China during Friday’s conference offered initial relief to markets, weak US Dollar adds strength to the upside momentum.

The US dollar index (DXY), a gauge of the greenback versus the major currencies, drops 0.26% to 98.03 by the press time. In doing so, the US currency index nears the lowest since March 17, 2020. Other than the risk-on sentiment, riots in the US also seem to weigh on the USD.

As a result, the MSCI’s index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan gains over 2.0% to revisit the early-March month high whereas Japan’s NIKKEI gain 0.50% to 21,990 as we write.

It’s worth mentioning that China’s Caixin Manufacturing PMI also contributed to the market’s optimism by jumping back above the expansion region with a 50.7 mark.

As a result, stocks in China are also gaining more than 2.0% with Hang Seng rising over 3.50% to 23,770 by the time of writing. The updates also help Australia’s ASX 200 and New Zealand’s NZX 50 to print 0.55% and 0.75% respectively. Additionally, India’s BSE SENSEX also benefits from the Asian optimism with over 3.0% gains to 33,410.

Looking forward, monthly readings of key activity data from the US, Europe and the UK are likely to entertain the markets going forward. Though, major attention will be given to the qualitative catalysts.