Investors are watching for inflation and retail sales data out of the U.S. and British economic growth data.
Asian shares mostly rose Monday, cheered by a rally on Wall Street as a grim jobs report signaled to investors that interest rates will likely stay low.
Japan’s Nikkei 225 rose 0.6% in afternoon trading to 29,518.34. Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 jumped 1.3% to 7,172.80. South Korea’s Kospi added 1.7% to 3,252.01. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng edged down 0.3% to 28,527.52, while the Shanghai Composite fell nearly 0.1% to 3,416.19.
The regional gains are coming despite a recent surge in coronavirus infections in Asia.
“In Asia, incoming economic releases may contain the long shadow of renewed resurgence of COVID,” said Venkateswaran Lavanya, of the Asia & Oceania Treasury Department in Mizuho Bank’s Singapre branch.
In Japan, worries are growing about tens of thousands of athletes and officials entering the country for the Tokyo Olympics, set to open in July. Many will be from countries where people have been vaccinated, while the rollout has been extremely slow in Japan, with about 3% of the population inoculated so far. The Tokyo Olympics organizers are promising…
