Asian stocks gain after Wall Street rebounds from tech slump

  (AP Photo/Eugene Hoshiko)

BEIJING  — Asian stock markets gained Thursday after Wall Street rebounded from a three-day slump for tech stocks.

Benchmarks in Shanghai, Tokyo, Seoul and Sydney advanced.

Wall Street’s S&P 500 index ended Wednesday up 2% for its best day in three months.

Investors were snapping up lower-priced shares and were encouraged by hopes of possible additional stimulus from the European Central Bank, analysts said. But they warned the recovery was fragile.

“To the extent that ‘buy the dip’ mentality persists, this market may possess a somewhat more stubborn bullish streak,” said Mizuho Bank. However, “markets will be prone to more volatility given the opportunistic elements of the rebound and potential pain that ‘group think’ begs.”

The Shanghai Composite Index rose 0.3% to 3,264.71 and the Nikkei 225 in Tokyo added 0.5% to 23,141.91. The Hang Seng in Hong Kong was little-changed at 24,460.08.

The Kospi in Seoul advanced 0.8% to 2,396.23 and Sydney’s ASX-S&P 500 gained 0.5% to 5,909.90.

New Zealand advanced while Singapore and Jakarta declined.

Global stock markets have recovered most of this year’s losses, but that was based largely on strong gains for tech stocks while other companies still are lower.

Forecasters warn the stock price recovery might be too big and too early to be supported by uncertain economic activity as coronavirus infection numbers rise in the United States, Brazil and some other countries. Some governments have re-imposed anti-disease controls that are hampering business.

On Wednesday, Apple, Amazon and other U.S. tech companies that had lost momentum late last week on worries their stocks soared too high all regained some ground.

The S&P 500 rallied to 3,398.96. The Dow Jones Industrial Average climbed 1.6%, to 27,940.47.

The Nasdaq composite, which includes many tech stocks, rose 2.7% to 11,141.56. It had dropped 10% over the previous three days.

The U.S. Congress is at an impasse on whether to approve a new economic aid package after additional unemployment benefits ran out. and other stimulus that it approved earlier ran out.

A Senate vote this week on a trimmed-down relief package proposed by Republicans has only a slim chance of passage as Democrats insist on more sweeping aid.

In energy markets, benchmark U.S. crude lost 23 cents to $37.82 per barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. The contract rose $1.29 on Wednesday to settle at $38.05.

Brent crude, the international standard, declined 16 cents to $40.63 per barrel in London. It added $1.01 the previous session to $40.79.

The dollar declined to 106.15 yen from Wednesday’s 106.18. The euro gained to $1.1825 from $1.1806.

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