By Gina Lee
Investing.com – Asia Pacific stocks were mixed on Thursday morning, with Chinese stocks headed towards record highs. However, renewed optimism for an acceleration in global economic recovery from COVID-19 was overshadowed by profit-taking in other Asian markets.
China’s Shanghai Composite jumped 1.33% by 10:05 PM ET (3:05 AM GMT), while the Shezhen Component fell 0.67%, with markets reopening after a holiday.
Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index was down 0.52%.
Japan’s Nikkei 225 was up 0.27%, while South Korea’s KOSPI was down 0.32%. In Australia, the ASX 200 gained 0.32%.
There were signs that the bond market sell-off is beginning to ease, with yields on two-year Treasuries dropping to a record low and the ten-year yield extending a pullback from a one-year high.
Positive U.S. data that was released overnight, and indications of a continued accommodative stance from the Federal Reserve, also continued to boost shares.
The data said that core retail sales grew 5.9% month-on-month in January, compared to the 1% growth in forecasts prepared by Investing.com and the 1.8% fall recorded in December. The Producer Price Index grew 1.3% month-on-month in January, higher than the forecast 0.4% growth and December’s 0.3% growth. Retail sales grew 5.3% month-on-month in January, against the forecast 1.1% growth and December’s 1% fall.
The push to pass a $1.9 trillion stimulus package through Congress also continues, with President Joe Biden meeting labor leaders on Wednesday to drum up support.
However, some investors remained cautious, with the continuous mutation of the COVID-19 virus continuing to be a source of concern.
“With an even larger stimulus package likely to be passed by Congress before the end of March, the U.S. economic recovery could gain more momentum in 2021,” Commonwealth Bank of Australia (OTC:CMWAY) currency analyst Carol Kong told Reuters.
“Despite the recent positive vaccine developments, the global economic outlook remains uncertain partly because of the spreading virus variants,” she added.
For its part, the Fed released the minutes from its January policy meeting on Wednesday. The minutes indicated that the central bank is willing to continue its accommodative monetary policy to boost the U.S. economic recovery.
Increased risk appetite was also seen in cryptocurrencies. Bitcoin continued its rally, passing the $52,000 mark, and ethereum also climbed more than 2% to new record high of $1,900.
Meanwhile, a continuing cold snap in Texas drove a concurrent rise in oil prices as production in the largest U.S. crude producing state was hampered by the weather.