Investing.com– Most Asian stocks surged on Friday, tracking an overnight rally on Wall Street as strong U.S. economic data helped quell fears of a recession, while bets on interest rate cuts still remained in play.
Wall Street indexes rose sharply on Thursday after strong retail sales data boosted optimism over the U.S. economy. Softer inflation data from earlier in the week also kept traders pricing in a 25 basis point rate cut in September.
U.S. stock index futures rose in Asian trade.
Japan’s Nikkei leads Asia gains, set for stellar week
Japan’s Nikkei 225 and TOPIX indexes were the best performers in Asia, rising 3.2% and 2.5%, respectively. They were also the best performers in Asia this week.
Both indexes were set to add between 7% and 8.5% this week, as they rebounded from four straight weeks of steep losses, which also saw them enter a bear market.
Sentiment towards Japan improved this week on stronger-than-expected gross domestic product data for the second quarter, which showed the economy was picking up amid improving wages and personal spending.
But Japanese stocks still remained within a bear market entered last week, with analysts at JPMorgan warning that recent gains were driven chiefly by domestic buying, and that foreign investors remained cautious over buying back into Japan.
Hong Kong stocks rally on strong earnings, China lags
Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index rose 1.6%, buoyed by a nearly 8% surge in JD.com (HK:9618) (NASDAQ:JD) after the ecommerce retailer clocked much stronger-than-expected June quarter earnings.
