By Gina Lee
Investing.com – Asian stocks were up on Tuesday morning, seeing their biggest gains in a week over falling hospitalizations in some parts of the U.S., as well as the afterglow of positive data released in China.
New York, California and Texas all reported falling hospitalizations, and in Washington, the U.S. Congress and officials from the Trump administration indicated on Monday the resumption of talks over the COVID-19 aid deal.
But the number of global cases reached a grim milestone as it topped 20 million as of August 11, according to Johns Hopkins University data.
In China, the National Bureau of Statistics said on Monday that factory deflation eased in July, reporting that the consumer price index rose 2.7% and 0.6% year-on-year and month-on-month respectively.
More data, including industrial production and retail sale figures for July, are set to be released on Friday.
But some investors warned that improving indicator figures are only a part of the whole recovery picture.
“The nature of the activity rebound will depend on the path of the outbreak, delivery of policy response and potential changes to consumer and corporate behaviors,” BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) Investment Institute strategists, led by Global Chief Investment Strategist Mike Pyle, said in a note.
“Success will not just be about restarting the economy and containing the virus. We are moderately pro-risk.”
China’s Shanghai Composite was up 0.33% by 11:32 PM ET (4:32 AM GMT) and the Shenzhen Component rose 0.41%.
Meanwhile, investors are keeping an eye on simmering U.S.-China tensions, after China imposed sanctions on 11 U.S. citizens in response to the U.S. imposition of sanctions on 11 Chinese officials and their allies in Hong Kong on Friday.
Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index jumped by 2.24%. despite the city’s Chief Executive Carrie Lam’s inclusion on Friday’s list. Japan’s Nikkei 225 and South Korea’s KOSPI both rose 1.71%.
Down Under, the ASX 200 rose 1%.