On Tuesday, shares in the Asia-Pacific region climbed higher, as investors were weighing the economic concerns.

Most indexes record gains

The Hang Seng index in Hong Kong had been trading at a loss but rose 0.7% in the last hour of trading. There was also a 0.73% gain in the Hang Seng Tech index. On Monday, Dutch company Prosus NV announced that it would sell some of the 28.9% stakes it owns in Tencent for funding a stock buyback for itself as well as its parent company Naspers.

Therefore, the last hour of trading saw Tencent, which is a heavyweight in the Hang Seng index, declined by 4.02%. A 0.66% gain in the Japanese Nikkei 225 index saw it climb to a value of 27,049.47. A 1.06% increase was also seen in the Topix index, which rose to 1,907.38. The South Korean Kospi index had also advanced by 0.84% to reach 2,422.09. But, there was a 0.14% drop in the Kosdaq index to reach 769.51.

The markets in Mainland China were also trading higher. There was a 0.89% increase in the Shanghai Composite, as it reached 3,409.21. A 1.23% rise was also recorded in the Shenzhen Component, which moved to 12,982.69. A 0.29% increase was also recorded in the MSCI index of Asia-Pacific shares. As for Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 index, it had advanced by 0.86% to reach 6,763.6.

Market analysts said that there was some evidence that investors were now looking to time the bottom where the equity markets are concerned and they are moving back into sectors that were heavily sold.

Corporate news

After the US market close, a net loss of about 989 million Chinese yuan was reported by Trip.com for the first quarter of the year. According to the company’s statement, the COVID-19 restrictions in China had adversely affected its results. There was a 1.51% drop in the shares of Trip.com listed in the United States in after-hours trading.

Chinese snack firm Weilong Delicious has decided to revive its Hong Kong initial public offering (IPO) and it is expected to happen in the second half of the year. It is possible that the company may manage to raise $500 million from the offering.

US markets

After enjoying a strong rebound on Friday, US markets saw declines in overnight trading in Asia. There was a 0.2%, 0.3%, and 0.7% drop in the Dow Jones Industrial Average, the S&P 500, and the Nasdaq Composite. Market analysts said that investors did not have a lot of conviction and are expecting some big declines to occur in the quarter, notwithstanding the solid advances recorded in the previous week.

The Japanese yen strengthened from the 136 level against the US dollar to trade at 135.73, while the Australian dollar was trading at a value of $0.6938. There was also a rise in oil futures in the afternoon Asia trading session. Brent crude, which is considered the international benchmark, recorded a rise of 1.38%, which took it to a value of $117 per barrel.