Most of the major Asian indices are showing slight growth in today's trading. Thus, Hong Kong Hang Seng Index added 0.72%, the Japanese Nikkei 225 gained 0.94%, Australian S&P/ASX 200 gained 0.28%, and the Korean KOSPI gained only 0.11%. At the same time, the Chinese Shanghai Composite and Shenzhen Composite indices declined by 0.21% and 0.37% respectively.
Asia-Pacific region indices traditionally follow the US indicators' suit. Thus, the main US stock exchange indicators closed with growth yesterday on the background of favorable statistical data. Thus, the US housing construction rose by 0.3% in March. According to experts' forecasts, this indicator should have decreased rather than increased.
The second positive moment was good corporate reports of companies for Q1 2022. This gives investors hope that they will be able to cope with a rather difficult environment caused by rising inflation. Good reporting is a signal that companies can navigate in the current environment and still generate and multiply their profits.
The growth of the Nikkei 225 index is supported by the depreciation of the Japanese yen.
Among the Nikkei 225 companies, Sumitomo Osaka Cement Co. added 19%, as well as Subaru added 5.5%, Nissan Motor increased by 4.7%, Mitsubishi Motors jumped by 4.4%, and Mazda Motor added 3,7%, which are engaged in the automobile industry.
Sony, SoftBank Group, and Asia Fast Retailing showed slightly smaller increases in the value of their securities, adding 1.3%, 1.6%, and 2.3% respectively.
The negative impact on Chinese indicators was caused by the information that the Central Bank of China left unchanged the interest rate on loans at 3.7%. Before that, it had been lowered several times because of the economic situation by 5 points in December 2021 and by another 10 points in January of this year, but in recent months it has not changed.
Among the companies included in the Hang Seng Index, Li Ning Co. increased by 5.5%, Anta Sports Products, Ltd. added 3.1%, Geely gained 4.1%, and Sands China, Ltd. as well as Galaxy Entertainment Group, Ltd. added 4% each.
At the same time, the value of securities of several other companies declined. Country Garden Holdings Co. decreased by 6%, China Overseas Land & Investment, Ltd. dropped by 5.1%, CNOOC, Ltd. lost 2.8%, and PetroChina fell by 1.9%.
Korean companies did not show a significant increase in the value of securities. Shares of Hyundai Motor rose by 1.4%, while Samsung Electronics Co. fell by 0.3%.
The Australian indicator reached almost an all-time high level. Among its components, Ramsay Health Care added 24%, which was the highest increase. This was due to the proposal of the upcoming purchase of the company by investors led by KRR.
The value of the securities of Pro Medicus, Ltd. jumped by 6%, and Healius, Ltd. increased by 3.9%. Share prices of BHP fell by 1.3%, and Rio Tinto dropped by 2.3%.
