Asian Shares Up As Wall Street Gains

Stocks were higher in Asia on Tuesday after a tech-led rally on Wall Street as investors bet the Federal Reserve will trim its rate hikes to tamp down inflation. Many markets in the region were closed for Lunar New Year holidays, Elaine Kurtenbach reported for the Associated Press (AP).

Photo Insert: The Bund Bull in Shanghai

A preliminary reading for manufacturing in Japan remained steady in January at its lowest level in over two years, with exports declining faster.

But the strength in technology shares helped spur buying of manufacturers like electronics maker Omron, which gained 2.7%, and robot supplier Fanuc Corp., which gained 2%.

Tokyo’s Nikkei 225 index gained 1.7% to 27,367.03 and the Sensex in Mumbai added 0.5% to 61,223.88. Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 rose 0.4% to 7,486.60 while the SET in Bangkok was up 0.2%.

On Monday, the S&P 500 rose 1.2% to 4,019.81. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.8% to 33,629.56 and the tech-heavy Nasdaq composite closed 2% higher, at 11,364.41.

Small company stocks also rose, pushing the Russell 2000 index up 1.3% to 1,890.77.

In other trading Tuesday, US benchmark crude oil picked up 3 cents to $81.65 per barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. It lost 2 cents to $81.62 on Monday.

Brent crude, the pricing benchmark for international trading, lost 10 cents to $88.06 per barrel. The dollar fell to 130.27 Japanese yen from 130.66 yen. The euro rose to $1.0877 from $1.0875.

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