Shares in Asia-Pacific mostly jumped on Tuesday, as stocks in Taiwan led gains among the region’s major markets.
In Japan, the Nikkei 225 regained 582.01 points, or 2.1%, to 28,406.84.
Japan’s economy shrank at an annualized rate of 5.1% in January to March, government data showed Tuesday. On a seasonally adjusted basis, gross domestic product in January-March fell 1.3% quarter-on-quarter, slightly lower than expectations in a Reuters poll for a 1.2% decline.
That came as resurgent COVID infections in the country snapped two quarters of consecutive growth.
The Japanese yen traded at 108.96 per U.S. dollar after strengthening from levels around 109.5 against the greenback yesterday.
In Hong Kong, the Hang Seng index gained 399.72 points, or 1.4%, to 28,593.81.
The Taiex in Taiwan surged, following a nearly 3% drop on Monday amid fears of domestic coronavirus infections.
Australian markets rose. Minutes from the Reserve Bank of Australia’s May monetary policy meeting released Tuesday showed the central bank’s board viewed the conditions for a rate rise as unlikely to be met “until 2024 at the earliest.”
The Australian dollar changed hands at $0.7807, stronger than levels below $0.774 seen last week.
On the coronavirus front, the World Health Organization warned Monday that the global pandemic isn’t over yet despite high COVID vaccination rates in some countries. In Asia, places such as Singapore and Taiwan have seen a recent resurgence in local infections, prompting authorities to tighten restrictions in a bid to stem the virus’ spread.
In other markets
In Shanghai, the CSI 300 nosed up 2.61 points, or 0.1%, to 5,187.60.
In Singapore, the Straits Times index advanced 62.94 points, or 2%, to 3,142.64.
In Taiwan, the Taiex index popped 792.09 points, or 5.2%, to 16,145.98
In Korea, the Kospi index recouped 38.53 points, or 1.2%, to 3,173.05
In New Zealand the NZX 50 took on 18.14 points, or 0.2%, to 12,428.62
In Australia, the ASX 200 picked up 42.42 points, or 0.6%, to 7,065.98