Asian Markets Advance Despite China Missiles Landing Near Japan

Arjun Pandit
05 Aug, 2022
New York City

Asian markets traded higher despite the simmering tensions between the U.S. and China.

China stepped up its military exercises and in a grand display of its military might fired several missiles over Taiwan for the first time. China also launched missiles that landed near Japan.

Moreover, China's foreign ministry imposed sanctions on the U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and against her immediate family.

Stocks in Hong Kong gained followed by advances in tech sector on the hopes that the tensions escalations with the U.S. may deepen the semiconductor chip shortages.

Tokyo stocks gained despite the rising military tensions in the region as investors reacted to the latest batch of positive earnings from Nippon Steel and Kikkoman.

Fast Retailing, the parent of Uniqlo, announced its plans of aggressive expansion across North America.

The Nikkei 225 index increased 0.9% to 28,175.87, the Hang Seng index inched up 0.1% to 20,201.94, and the Sensex index gained 0.1% to 58,387.93.

The Reserve Bank of India lifted its key lending rate by 50 basis points, the third rate increase in a row.

The central bank lifted the repo rate by 50 basis points to the pre-pandemic level of 5.4% and retained real GDP growth estimate at 7.2% and inflation estimate at 6.7% for the current fiscal year.  

The repo rate is the rate at which commercial banks in India borrow from the Reserve Bank against the collateral of Indian government bonds or other approved treasury securities.

Australian market indexes closed at two-month highs after the gains in mineral and mining sector outweighed the weakness in energy sector.  

The ASX 200 Index gained 0.6% to 7,015.60 and the All Ordinaries Index increased 0.6% to 7,250.30.