Mon, 25 Sep 2023

SYDNEY, NSW, Australia - Stocks in Asia rose on Tuesday after China announced it would halve quarantine from 14 days to seven days for international visitors. New arrivals will also have to quarantine at home for 3 days.

The tight restrictions and lockdowns in parts of the country have hampered the Asian region's largest economy so investors welcome any form of easing.

"With local new infections dropping further in June, and COVID curbs to ease more, we expect the Chinese economy to continue to recover," Bank of America said in a note, as quoted by Reuters news agency. "That said, given soft domestic demand and lingering COVID uncertainties, the mending path is likely to be bumpy in the coming months," Bank of America said.

China's Shanghai Composite gained 30.02 points or 0.89 percent to close Tuesday at 27,049.97.

The Hang Seng win Hong Kong added 189.45 points or 0.85 percent to 22,418.47.

The Australian All Ordinaries rose 59.80 points or 0.87 percent to 6,953.40. China is Australia's largest export market, and in normal times provides the country with its largest number of international visitors.

In New Zealand, the S&P/NZX 50 added 20.70 points or 0.19 percent to 11,018.62.

South Korea's Kospi Composite advanced 20.70 points or 0.84 percent to 2,422.09.

In Japan, the Nikkei 225 climbed 178.22 points or 0.66 percent to 27,049.97.

The U.S. dollar was little changed on foreign exchange markets during the Asian session Tuesday. The euro hovered around 1.0580 at the Sydney close. The British pound drifted lower to 1.2264. The Japanese yen was steady at 135.79. The Swiss franc firmed a touch to 0.9555.

The Canadian dollar edged higher to 1.2842. The Australian dollar rose to 0.6942. The New Zealand dollar was a tad weaker at 0.6284.

Overnight on Wall Street, the Dow Jones industrials fell 62.42 points or 0.20 percent to 31,438.26.

The Nasdaq Composite slid 96.97 points or 0.83 percent to 11,511.65.

The Standard and Poor's 500 retreated 11.62 points or 0.30 points to 3,900.12.

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