Shanghai stocks rise in holiday-cut trade

HONG KONG: Shanghai and Tokyo stocks turned higher in holidaythinned Asian trade yesterday, while the dollar ticked up with talk reemerging of another US interest rate hike. With most markets closed for the Easter break there was little to drive buying at the end of an up-and-down week that was marred by the terror attacks in Brussels on Tuesday. “The market is seeing a little bit of a pause in momentum,” Kevin Caron, a New Jersey-based market strategist and portfolio manager at Stifel Nicolaus & Co, told Bloomberg News. “Now we’re looking ahead at what drives us beyond what central bank actions have been able to curry so far.”

In Japan, exporters rose with the yen easing against the dollar as a broad global rally inspired by a string of central bank easing measures from Asia to the Americas injected some much-needed optimism into trade. Japan’s Nikkei ended up 0.7 percent, with global giants Toyota, Canon and Sony among the best performers.

There was little response to data showing Japanese inflation remained at zero in February for the second month in a row. The dollar-which earlier this month tumbled after the Federal Reserve lowered its rate cut forecasts for 2016 — edged up as talk turned back to a possible increase in April or June as the bank’s policymakers eye a more positive outlook. Shanghai added 0.6 percent after tumbling 1.6 percent Thursday. Seoul was 0.1 percent lower and Taipei 0.4 percent down. Most other markets including Hong Kong, Sydney and Wellington were closed for the long Easter weekend. Oil markets were also shut. — AFP