Investing.com– Most Asian stocks rose on Wednesday, with Chinese markets seeing outsized gains after Beijing unveiled a string of new stimulus measures aimed at shoring up economic growth.
Regional markets took a positive lead-in from Wall Street, where strength in technology stocks pushed the S&P 500 and the Dow Jones Industrial Average to record highs. U.S. stock index futures steadied in Asian trade.
Sentiment towards stock markets remained upbeat after a bumper interest rate cut by the Federal Reserve last week, with investors now awaiting more cues from the central bank in the coming days.
Chinese stocks surge on stimulus cheer
Chinese markets were by far the best performers on Wednesday, with the Shanghai Shenzhen CSI 300 and Shanghai Composite indexes surging around 3% each. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index added 2.5%.
Markets rallied after the People’s Bank of China announced a slew of stimulus measures on Tuesday, including lower bank reserve requirements and lower mortgage rates.
Beijing was also seen considering bumper liquidity support for local stocks.
The measures ramped up hopes that Chinese economic growth will improve, after nearly three years of rampant disinflation and sluggish business activity.
Chinese stocks also benefited from bargain buying, given that the CSI 300 and Shanghai Composite indexes had slumped to more than seven-month lows earlier in September.
But analysts said that the measures would be insufficient in sparking a Chinese economic turnaround, with ANZ stating that more fiscal measures were needed to support growth.
