By Gina Lee
Investing.com – Asia Pacific stocks were up on Tuesday morning, clawing back some of Monday’s losses. U.S. shares also rebounded and China introduced measures to support slowing economic growth.
China’s Shanghai Composite was up 0.29% by 9:05 PM ET (2:05 AM GMT) and the Shenzhen Component edged up 0.20%. Chinese trade data, including exports, imports and the trade balance, is due later in the day.
Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index rose 1.19%.
Japan’s Nikkei 225 jumped 1.25% and South Korea’s KOSPI was up 0.21%.
In Australia, the ASX 200 gained 0.58%, with the Reserve Bank of Australia handing down its policy decision later in the day.
China Communist Party’s Politburo concluded a meeting on Monday that signaled an ease in curbs on the real estate sector and vowed to stabilize the economy in 2022. The People’s Bank of China will reduce most banks’ reserve requirement ratio by 0.5 percentage point next week, releasing CNY1.2 trillion ($188.16 billion) of liquidity.
Premier Li Keqiang added that China has room for a variety of monetary policy tools, including cutting the reserve requirement ratio.
Also on investors’ radars is the country’s property sector, as China Evergrande Group (HK:3333) plans to include all its offshore public bonds and private debt obligations in a restructuring. Meanwhile, a group of Kaisa Group Holdings Ltd (HK:1638) bondholders sent the developer a formal forbearance proposal.
On the data front, China’s consumer price index (CPI) and producer price index are due on Thursday.
The Chinese moves could offer some calm in a market that has recently been hit by bouts of volatility. However, some investors predicted that further volatility could be up ahead, with countries tightening restrictive measures due to the omicron COVID-19 variant.
“Clearly the markets are concerned about a growth scare. We are entering year end, there is still some uncertainty,” Edward Jones & Co. senior investment strategist Mona Mahajan told Bloomberg.
“However, more clarity from the Fed at its next meeting and around omicron “could get a spark for perhaps a year-end rally or at least more optimism heading into 2022,” she added.
Minneapolis Fed Bank President Neel Kashkari will speak on Thursday, with U.S. data, including the CPI, following a day later.