Asian Shares Track Gains On Wall Street Ahead Of Powell’s Testimony

Asian stocks rose broadly on Tuesday after Wall Street equities inched higher to close at record peaks overnight ahead of the Federal Reserve Chair’s testimony and key U.S. consumer and producer price inflation figures due this week.

Investors expect the upcoming U.S. earnings season to be a good one, with top banks JPMorgan, Citigroup and Wells Fargo due to report their quarterly results on Friday.

Fed Chair Jerome Powell addresses Congress on Tuesday and Wednesday, with investors seeking more clues on the likely direction of rates ahead of a policy meeting later this month.

The U.S. CPI report is due on Thursday and is expected to show inflation easing to 3.1 percent in June from 3.3 percent in May. The producer price inflation report is due Friday.

The U.S. dollar remained near a multi-week low against key peers in Asian trading and gold traded marginally higher above $2,360 per ounce, while oil extended losses amid continued hopes for a ceasefire deal in Gaza.

Chinese markets posted strong gains, with the benchmark Shanghai Composite Index jumping 1.3 percent to 2,959.37 ahead of one of the country’s biggest annual policy meetings.

Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index finished marginally lower at 17,523.23, reversing early losses before the release of Chinese inflation data.

Japanese markets led regional gains, with chip-related shares leading the surge. The Nikkei 225 Index shot up 2.0 percent to hit a record high of 41,580.17 as the yen declined ahead of Powell’s testimony.

The broader Topix Index settled 1.0 percent higher at 2,895.55. Advantest, Tokyo Electron, Screen Holdings and SoftBank Corp. surged 2-3 percent.

Seoul stocks eked out modest gains as tech shares followed their U.S peers higher. The Kospi rose 0.3 percent to 2,867.38.

SK Hynix advanced 2.1 percent, while automaker Hyundai Motor tumbled 3 percent and Kia Corp. dropped 1.4 percent.

Australian stocks ended notably higher in a broad-based rally. The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 Index advanced 0.9 percent to 7,829.70, while the broader All Ordinaries Index climbed 0.8 percent to 8,075.20.

Banks outperformed, with Commonwealth Bank of Australia rising 1.8 percent to a record high. Buy now-pay later firm Zip gained 4.3 percent and telecom firm Telstra advanced 2.2 percent.

Across the Tasman, New Zealand’s benchmark S&P/NZX 50 Index jumped 0.9 percent to 11,848.13, marking a three-week high ahead of the RBNZ policy meeting on Wednesday.

U.S. stocks ended mixed overnight as investors braced for a busy week of key economic events and digested data signaling a slowdown in payroll hiring in the second half of the year.

The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite rose 0.3 percent and the S&P 500 added 0.1 percent to hit record highs as shares of chipmakers surged. The Dow ended marginally lower.

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