Asian markets track Wall St surge, focus turns to Capitol Hill

Tech fuelled a surge in New York, sending the Nasdaq to a new all-time high

HONG KONG (AFP) - Asian stocks advanced Tuesday following another record close on Wall Street, with investors cheered by forecast-beating US data and hopes for fresh stimulus for the world’s top economy.

But while there are small signs of a slowdown in infections in key US states, the spread of the virus across the planet and the reintroduction of strict containment measures continue to be overwhelming factors keeping equities from extending gains.

Tech fuelled a surge in New York, sending the Nasdaq to a new all-time high, as traders looked for firms likely to benefit from people being forced to stay or work from home.

There was also a cheer for figures showing the US manufacturing sector expanded last month at its fastest pace since March last year, which followed strong factory readings from China and Europe.

Still, AxiCorp’s Stephen Innes said: "The composition of China’s economic recovery offers a roadmap to the rest of the world that is not especially bullish for a consumer-driven rebound. It’s easier to normalise the supply-side of the economy than the demand side in a post-pandemic-shock environment."

Attention is now on Washington, where Democrats and Republicans are battling to hammer out a new package to save the US economy from the ravages of the pandemic.

With extra unemployment benefits and a moratorium on evictions now dried up, there are worries millions of Americans will suffer if nothing is passed soon, which would batter the already stuttering economy.

Democrat House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said a meeting with Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin and White House chief of Staff Mark Meadows had been "productive".