Investing.com - Asian-Pacific indices opened on a positive note on Tuesday, following a Tesla-fueled (NASDAQ:TSLA) rally on Wall Street.
By 11:00 am AEST (1:00 am GMT), the S&P/ASX 200, KOSPI 200, and Nikkei 225 saw respective increases of 0.1%, 0.8%, and 1.2%.
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Major US indexes experienced slight growth on Monday, with the S&P 500, NASDAQ Composite, and Dow Jones Industrial Average rising by 0.3%, 0.4%, and 0.4% respectively. Despite the inflation data that cast doubt on Wall Street's hopes for interest rate cuts in the upcoming months, stocks have made gradual gains over the past week. This shift in expectations has led to an increase in government bond yields and, consequently, borrowing costs across the US
A Federal Reserve meeting concluding on Wednesday may provide investors with more insight into whether the central bank might reduce rates by the end of the year. The April jobs report, due on Friday, will offer the latest update on the US economy, which continued to expand in the first quarter.
The benchmark 10-year yield decreased slightly on Monday to 4.612% but remains 0.752 percentage points higher since the beginning of 2024. This has drawn investors to the secure payouts on government debt, pressuring stocks throughout April and setting all three indexes on track for their worst monthly performances of the year.
Despite many traders avoiding riskier assets in recent weeks, Tesla, one of the year's most volatile stocks, led the S&P 500 on Monday. Tesla shares jumped 15%, their largest one-day gain since 2021, after CEO Elon Musk secured Beijing's approval to launch the company's driver-assistance service in China.
In commodity markets, Brent crude oil fell 1.1% to US$88.52 a barrel, while gold remained flat at US$2,335.19. In local bond markets, the yield on Australian 2-year government bonds and 10-year yield both decreased to 4.15% and 4.48% respectively. US Treasury notes also fell, with the 2-year yield at 4.98% and the 10-year yield at 4.61%.
Chinese shares closed higher, buoyed by real estate shares. Investors celebrated the removal of home-buying restrictions in Chengdu, a major Chinese city, raising hopes that more Tier-1 cities will relax their rules. The Shanghai Composite Index ended 0.8% higher at 3113.04, and the Shenzhen Composite Index closed 2.3% higher.
Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index closed 0.5% higher at 17746.91, led by property stocks. The news of another city in China easing home buying restrictions likely supported sentiment, sparking cautious hope that the struggling property sector might finally be improving.
The Nikkei Stock Average rose 0.8% to close at 37934.76, extending gains after the Bank of Japan left its interest-rate target unchanged following its first rate increase in 17 years in March.
India's benchmark Sensex index rose 1.3% to end at 74671.28 amid broad gains led by bank stocks. The US FOMC meeting and US labor-market data are on investors' radar this week.
The FTSE 100 rose 0.1% to 8149.21 in late trade, having reached another record intraday peak of 8189.14, with heavyweight miners mostly pushing higher. European stock indexes, however, lagged behind, with Germany's DAX and France's CAC 40 down by 0.2%, though the Stoxx Europe 600 rose by 0.1