Asian stock markets rose on Friday, recovering from a series of sharp declines this week as governments and institutions' efforts to help stem the risk of a banking meltdown have helped improve sentiment. while investors also expect the Fed to be more dovish in monetary policy.
Chinese exchanges performed the best on the day, with the Shanghai Shenzhen CSI 300 and Shanghai Composite up 1.6% each. The two indexes are also set to close the week about 0.9 percent and 1.5 percent higher, respectively, after Goldman Sachs raised its China GDP outlook for the year, fueling optimism about the economic recovery. economy in this country.
Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index rose 1.8%, driven by higher tech shares. Internet search engine Baidu (NASDAQ:BIDU) (HK:9888) surged more than 15% after announcing an artificial intelligence-powered chatbot “Ernie Bot”.
The portals of telecom group CK Hutchison Holdings Ltd (HK:0001) rose 2% after recording a nearly 10% increase in 2022 net profit.
Other tech indexes also rose on Friday, with South Korea's Taiwan Weighted and KOSPI gaining more than 1% each.
Broader Asian markets rallied on a bank-driven rally on Wall Street after several major lenders came to the rescue of First Republic Bank (NYSE:FRC) facing a crisis potential liquidity crisis.
The move comes after Swiss bank Credit Suisse Group AG (SIX:CSGN) received a credit line of up to $54 billion from the Swiss National Bank, while US officials also stepped in to secure protected depositors at some regional banks and helped quell fears of a broader banking crisis.
Fears of a banking system collapse fueled sharp swings in financial markets this week, with Asian stocks under pressure as risk appetite softened.
But expectations that worsening economic conditions would call for more dovish measures from major central banks helped limit losses in Asian markets. The focus is now on next week's meeting of the Federal Reserve, where the central bank is expected to raise interest rates by 25 basis points.
Japan's Nikkei 225 index rose 1.2%, recouping some of its previous losses. However, the index is expected to drop nearly 3% this week, as major financial stocks sold off sharply on concerns about their exposure to US bonds.
India's Nifty 50 and BSE Sensex 30 indices are up around 0.5% each on Friday and are expected to fall between 2% and 3% this week.
Australia's ASX 200 index rose 0.4 per cent, although larger gains were held back by concerns about rising interest rates in the country.