Asian markets soar on momentum of Wall Street rally

After a slight stutter in the previous session, the Straits Times Index (STI) jumped 1.7 per cent to 3,170.29 points yesterday, as Asian equity markets soared on the coat-tails of a Wall Street rally.

Oanda senior market analyst Jeffrey Halley said: "Overnight, US stocks booked impressive gains after Netflix had less worse results than expected, and peak inflation hopes abounded on expectations of resumed Black Sea grain exports and Russian gas exports to Europe."

He added: "All in all, it looked like Wall Street was looking for any excuse to continue the bear market rally, and they got it.

"With the street hungry for good news to feed the buy-the-dip appetite, Wall Street had a huge day, which saw investors piling back into big tech as well."

A bear market rally refers to an upward trend in prices - often short-lived - amid a longer-term stock market decline.

Across key Asian markets, Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index, Japan's Nikkei 225 index, South Korea's Kospi, the Jakarta Composite Index and the FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI rose between 0.6 per cent and 2.7 per cent.

In the wider Singapore market, gainers outnumbered losers 288 to 183, with 982 million shares worth $1.05 billion traded.

The trio of local banks were among the biggest winners. UOB surged 3.4 per cent to close at $27.37, DBS Bank jumped 3 per cent to $30.85 and OCBC Bank gained 2 per cent to end at $11.55.

At the bottom of the table for the blue-chip stocks were Thai Beverage (ThaiBev) and Frasers Logistics and Commercial Trust (FLCT), with each down 0.8 per cent.

ThaiBev closed at 63.5 cents while FLCT ended at $1.33.

ThaiBev was also the most actively traded counter on the STI, with 51.9 million shares changing hands. In the wider market, Sembcorp Marine saw the highest trading volume, with 106.5 million shares traded.