Forexpros – Asian stock markets were mostly higher during late Asian trade on Tuesday, as investors hunted for bargains amid growing expectations policy makers around the world will introduce fresh stimulus measures to help spur weak global growth.
During late Asian trade, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index rose 0.5%, Australia’s ASX/200 Index added 0.2%, while Japan’s Nikkei 225 Index gained 0.4%.
Global equities have been well-supported in recent sessions, despite the gloomy global outlook, amid ongoing expectations that central banks in the U.S., Europe and China will soon announce fresh stimulus measures to help spur growth in their respective economies.
Market participants will be watching U.S. data on retail sales and inflation later in the day in an attempt to assess the strength of the U.S. economic recovery.
Investors were also eyeing the release of euro zone growth data later in the day, after a report earlier showed that Germany’s economy slowed less-than-expected in the second quarter.
Germany’s gross domestic product expanded by 0.3% in the three months to June, beating expectations for a 0.2% expansion and following an expansion of 0.5% in the first quarter.
A separate report showed that France’s economy stagnated in the second quarter, beating expectations for a 0.1% contraction.
In Tokyo, shares in exporters were higher after the yen weakened against the euro and U.S. dollar, boosting the value of overseas income for exporters.
The Bank of Japan is considering ways to expand stimulus and prop up growth, according to minutes of the central bank’s most recent policy-setting meeting published earlier in the day.
Meanwhile, in Hong Kong, shares in raw material producers pulled the Hang Seng higher, tracking gains in commodity prices.
Elsewhere, shares in Australia were boosted by upbeat domestic corporate news.
Shares in BlueScope Steel rallied 14.2%, adding to the previous session’s 36.5% gain, a day after announcing plans to form a building-products alliance with Japan’s Nippon Steel.
Shares in Australia’s largest listed food company, Goodman Fielder also contributed to gains, jumping 8.1% after reporting a smaller-than-expected second quarter net loss.
Looking ahead, the outlook for European stock markets was broadly higher, following the better-than-expected German and French growth data.
The EURO STOXX 50 futures pointed to a gain of 0.5% at the open, France’s CAC 40 futures rose 0.4%, London’s FTSE 100 futures added 0.3%, while Germany’s DAX futures pointed to a gain of 0.4% at the open.
Later in the day, the euro zone was to release official data on industrial production as well as preliminary data on second quarter gross domestic product. In addition, the ZEW Centre for Economic Research was to publish a report on economic sentiment in Germany and throughout the single currency bloc.
The U.S. was to publish official data on retail sales and producer price inflation, followed by data on business inventories.
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