Asian shares recouped some of their recent steep losses on Monday as beaten-down Chinese markets drew retail bargain hunters, while stellar U.S. earnings and progress on an infrastructure bill supported Wall Street futures.
There was the prospect of more fiscal stimulus ahead as U.S. senators worked to finalise a sweeping $1 trillion infrastructure plan that could pass this week.
That helped S&P 500 futures and Nasdaq futures both added 0.5%. EUROSTOXX 50 futures also gained 0.5%, while FTSE futures put on 0.4%.
Australian stocks hit a record, helped by Square Inc’s $29 billion bid for buy now, pay later (BNPL) pioneer Afterpay Ltd. MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan was last up 0.8%, having hit its low for the year so far last week. Japan’s Nikkei bounced back 1.8%, but that was from its lowest since January.
Even Chinese blue chips enjoyed a 2% bounce, having shed 5.5% last week, though Beijing’s crackdown on the tech and education sectors hammering stocks still reverberated.
“The 10-15 year period where foreign investors were allowed to participate in the walled garden of Chinese high growth stocks was an aberration,” said BofA economist Ajay Kapur.
