Asian stocks rise on Wall St relief as recession fears ease By Investing.com

Investing.com– Most Asian shares rose on Friday, tracking an overnight rally on Wall Street as strong U.S. economic data helped ease recession fears, while bets on interest rate cuts remained in play.

Wall Street indexes rose sharply on Thursday after strong retail sales data boosted optimism about the U.S. economy. Weaker inflation data earlier in the week also kept traders pricing in a 25 basis point rate cut in September.

US stock index futures rose in Asian trade.

Japan’s Nikkei leads gains in Asia, set for a stellar week

Japan and indices were the best performers in Asia, up 3.2% and 2.5% respectively. They were also the top performers in Asia this week.

Both indices were set to rise between 7% and 8.5% this week as they rebounded from four straight weeks of steep losses that also put them in a bear market.

Sentiment toward Japan improved this week on stronger-than-expected second-quarter data that showed the economy is recovering on the back of improving wages and personal spending.

But Japanese shares remained in a bear market entered last week, with analysts at JPMorgan warning that recent gains were driven mainly by domestic purchases and that foreign investors remained wary of buying back in Japan.

Hong Kong shares rise on strong gains, China lags behind

Hong Kong’s index rose 1.6%, supported by a nearly 8% rise in JD.com (HK: ) (NASDAQ: ) after the e-commerce retailer posted much stronger-than-expected earnings in the quarter June.

Rival Alibaba (HK: ) Group (NYSE: ) rose 3.6% even as its June quarter earnings missed estimates. The stock was boosted by speculation that Alibaba will upgrade its Hong Kong listing to make it eligible for purchase by mainland Chinese investors later this month, which could attract a flurry of inflows for the stock via Southbound Stock Connect.

But Chinese markets lagged as mixed economic readings in the country kept investors averse to local stocks. Both indexes and rose by about 0.1%.

Mainland Chinese stocks received little support from more stimulus pledges from the People’s Bank of China. The central bank is due to decide on the benchmark next week after unexpectedly cutting the rate in July to boost growth.

Broader Asian markets advanced as the diminished prospect of a US recession and lingering bets on US interest rate cuts supported risk-based assets.

Australia rose 1.3 percent, while South Korea rose 1.8 percent in rebounding trade.

Futures for India’s index point to a strong open, with the index also set to rise sharply after a holiday on Thursday.