Asian markets mostly rise as China avoids another night of protests

Hong Kong, China: Asian shares were mostly higher Tuesday as China avoided another night of protests after a weekend of unrest across the country fuelled uncertainty in the world’s number two economy. The gains were led by a rally in Hong Kong and Shanghai, with property firms enjoying a much-needed surge on the back of moves to ease funding restrictions on troubled developers. Frustration over China’s hardline Covid restrictions has sparked a weekend of rare protests nationwide, and security forces have filled the streets of major cities such as Beijing and Shanghai. Although market sentiment has been weighed down by recent demonstrations in China, some analysts noted calm could return in coming sessions. The world’s second largest economy has been stifled by a “zero COVID” policy which includes lockdowns that continually threaten the global supply chain. “The absence of any clear escalation in protests could aid to bring some calm to markets,” said Yeap Jun Rong, market strategist at IG. The unrest has stoked worries on Wall Street that if Chinese leader Xi Jinping cracks down further on dissidents there or expands the lockdowns, it could slow the Chinese economy, which would hurt oil prices and global economic growth, said Sam Stovall, chief investment strategist at CFRA. However, sentiment was tempered by warnings from top Federal Reserve policymakers that US interest rates would rise further and could go higher than initially thought to fight inflation. Investors are also shifting their attention to a speech by US Federal Reserve chair Jerome Powell this week, Mizuho Securities said in a note. After early sell-offs following losses on Wall Street, “a wait-and-see attitude was likely to grow” ahead of Powell’s speech, the brokerage said. The remarks were partly to blame for big losses of more than one per cent in Wall Street’s three main indexes. China was rocked by demonstrations at the weekend calling for more political freedoms and an end to the country’s long-running and economically painful zero-Covid strategy that has seen millions thrown into lockdown for months. Several arrests were made and security forces were out in force Monday to prevent a repeat of the protests, which were the most widespread since pro-democracy demonstrations were crushed in 1989. The return of some calm helped Hong Kong stocks rally more than three per cent and Shanghai more than one per cent, with some commentators suggesting the unrest could actually help push leaders to ease some of the strict containment measures. Property firms were among the best performers after China said it would end a ban on firms raising cash by selling stocks, marking the latest measure to ease pressure on the sector, which has seen several companies collapse and threatens the wider economy. Sydney, Seoul, Singapore, Wellington, Taipei and Jakarta were also in positive territory, though Tokyo dipped with Manila. Attention is turning to the United States this week with a number of Fed officials due to speak, including boss Jerome Powell, while Friday sees the release of key jobs data, which could provide an idea about the bank’s plans for monetary policy. Bets on a slowdown in its pace of rate hikes have boosted markets for the past weeks, but some high-ranking members on Monday looked to play down the chances of a more dovish pivot. St. Louis Fed chief James Bullard warned “markets are underpricing a little bit the risk that the (policy board) will have to be more aggressive rather than less aggressive in order to contain the very substantial inflation that we have in the US”. And Richmond Fed president Thomas Barkin added: “I’m very supportive of a path that is slower, probably longer and potentially higher than where we were before.” The officials indicated borrowing costs would not likely come down until the end of next year or in 2024. Key figures around 0230 GMT Tokyo - Nikkei 225: DOWN 0.6 per cent at 27,999.82 (break) Hong Kong - Hang Seng Index: UP 3.6 per cent at 17,920.01 Shanghai - Composite: UP 1.6 per cent at 3,128.24 Euro/dollar: UP at $1.0357 from $1.0347 on Monday Dollar/yen: DOWN at 138.85 yen from 138.87 yen Pound/dollar: UP at $1.1992 from $1.1952 Euro/pound: DOWN at 86.40 pence from 86.50 pence West Texas Intermediate: FLAT at $77.24 per barrel Brent North Sea crude: UP 0.2 per cent at $83.34 per barrel New York - Dow: DOWN 1.5 per cent at 33,849.46 (close) London - FTSE 100: DOWN 0.2 per cent at 7,474.02 (close) With inputs from agencies Read all the Latest News , Trending News ,  Cricket News , Bollywood News , India News and Entertainment News here. Follow us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.