BEIJING (AP) – Most Asian stock markets advanced Monday following Wall Street’s gains ahead of quarterly earnings and testimony to the U.S. Congress by Federal Reserve chair Janet Yellen.
KEEPING SCORE: Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index rose 1 percent to 25,608.16 and Tokyo’s Nikkei 225 gained 0.7 percent to 20,068.67. The Shanghai Composite Index shed 0.2 percent 3,210.76 and Sydney’s S&P-ASX 200 added 0.3 percent to 5,720.30. India’s Sensex advanced 0.7 percent to 31,567.86 and Seoul’s Kospi added 0.3 percent to 2,386.22. Singapore also rose while benchmarks in Taiwan, New Zealand and the Philippines declined.
WALL STREET: U.S. stocks climbed after hiring grew at a stronger pace in June. Technology and consumer-focused companies led the way. Technology companies jumped and retailers like Amazon and McDonald’s traded higher. The Standard & Poor’s 500 index picked up 0.6 percent to 2,425.18. The Dow Jones industrial average gained 0.4 percent to 21,414.34. The Nasdaq composite rose 1 percent to 6,153.08.
EARNINGS: Companies including Pepsi Co. and Delta Air Lines, Inc. are due to release earnings this week as U.S. companies begin their second-quarter reporting season. The market expects earnings per share growth of about 7 percent from companies in the S&P 500.
ANALYST’S TAKE: “It seems optimistic to feel we can replicate the 15 percent growth we saw in Q1, but at 7 percent this would still be the strongest rate of earnings growth since 2014,” said Chris Weston of IG in a report. “This is incredibly important because in the last two weeks or so we have markets changing and the catalyst for equities is shifting from a liquidity induced rally, to one where valuation and earnings growth will be the pre-eminent driver,” he said. “2018 is shaping up where value could do far better and not just to leverage to higher growth, high momentum names.”