Japan’s benchmark Nikkei 225 rose 1.9% to 26,450.84 in afternoon trade.
Japan’s benchmark Nikkei 225 rose 1.9% to 26,450.84 in afternoon trade.
Asian stocks edged higher on February 25, when US stocks recovered at the end of a wild trading day, as governments imposed sanctions on Russia for its invasion of Ukraine.
Japan’s benchmark Nikkei 225 rose 1.9% to 26,450.84 in afternoon trade. Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 closed some of its earlier gains up 0.1% at 6,997.80. South Korea’s Kospi jumped 1.2% to 2,679.56. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng was down 0.4% at 22,821.87, while the Shanghai Composite rose 0.7% to 3,452.84.
Japan announced additional sanctions on Russia, including freezing the assets of Russian groups, banks and individuals, and suspending the export of semi-conductors and other sensitive goods to military-linked organizations in Russia.
Earlier in the week, Tokyo suspended fresh issuance and distribution of Russian government bonds in Japan, reducing financing opportunities for Russia. It also banned trade with the two Ukrainian separatist regions.
While much of Asia rallied to support Ukraine, China denounced sanctions against Russia and blamed the United States and its allies for provoking Moscow.
Despite uncertainty about Ukraine and concerns over inflation and the pandemic, Asian stocks jumped as changes on Wall Street blew up.
Yep Jun Rong, market strategist at IG in Singapore, said: “The market pivot came overnight after Russia announced a retaliation, in which the US implemented export controls to cut Russia off from other advanced technology, including semi-drivers and software. ” ,
Beyond its tragic human toll, the conflict is set to send prices of oil, wheat and corn even higher at gasoline pumps and grocery stores around the world. Russia and Ukraine are major producers of both energy and grain and other commodities.
Asian economies, already grappling with the coronavirus pandemic, are particularly vulnerable to rising energy costs. Japan imports almost all of its energy, although its imports from Russia are limited.
Oil prices on both sides of the Atlantic jumped above $100 a barrel on Thursday, their highest level since 2014. But Mr Biden said he gave back some of those benefits after the sanctions package was “specifically designed to allow energy payments to continue”. , Mr Biden also said he wanted to limit the economic pain for Americans.
Benchmark US crude jumped $1.30 to $94.11 a barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange on Friday. Brent crude, the base of international oil prices, rose $1.58 to $97.00 a barrel.
Prices have increased more in Europe than in the US because its economy is more closely linked to Russia and Ukraine. The spot price of natural gas in Europe jumped more than 50%. High energy and food prices are raising concerns about inflation, which in January hit its warmest level in two generations in the United States and what the Federal Reserve will do to rein it in.
On Wall Street, the S&P 500 was up 1.5% at 4,288.70 after erasing an early drop of 2.6%, while the Nasdaq made an even bigger comeback, rising 3.3% to 13,473.59. The Dow Jones Industrial Average, which is not influenced by larger tech stocks, rose 0.3% to 33,223.83.
The US Fed is set to raise rates from next month for the first time since 2018. It has sometimes delayed major policy decisions in times of geopolitical uncertainty such as the Kosovo War and the US invasion of Iraq.
But economists say they still expect the Fed to raise rates consistently at its upcoming meetings, attempting to tame inflation without putting the economy into recession.
Heavy volatility has also rocked the bond market, where initially yields sank as money went into investments that offered safer returns than stocks. But yields improved during the day, and the 10-year Treasury yield stood at 1.96% on Friday, up close to Wednesday’s 1.97%.
In currency trading, the US dollar fell from 115.48 yen to 115.21 Japanese yen. Euro price is $1.1219, up from $1.1204.
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