Asian stock markets showed gains on Friday, buoyed by a robust performance on Wall Street and a drop in oil prices. Japan’s Nikkei 225 and Hong Kong’s Hang Seng both rose by 0.8% in early trading. Meanwhile, South Korea’s Kospi posted a notable increase of 2.1%, and the Shanghai Composite climbed nearly 0.8%. Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 saw a modest rise of 0.1%.
These developments come after Wall Street’s strong showing in the previous session. The S&P 500 advanced by 1.1%, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 0.6%. The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite led the charge with a 1.7% increase. The rally was supported by a decline in oil prices, with Brent crude dropping 0.68% to $104.11 a barrel and U.S. crude down 0.54% to $101.36, easing some of the pressure on financial markets.
In addition to market gains, investors continued to digest the Federal Reserve’s recent decision to increase its benchmark interest rate by 0.25 percentage points. The Fed has signaled that another rate hike may occur later this year as part of its strategy to achieve a 2% inflation target. This monetary policy move has been closely watched by markets globally.
Furthermore, yields on the 10-year U.S. Treasury note fell to 4.93% from 5.01%, providing some relief to equities. In currency trading, the U.S. dollar strengthened slightly against the Japanese yen, reaching 156.15 yen, while the euro remained stable at $1.1480.