Asian Shares Rally Amid China, Fed Optimism

(RTTNews) - Asian stocks rallied on Monday, as signs of a slowdown in U.S. wage growth stoked hopes of smaller Fed rate hikes and China reopened its borders for the first time in three years.

A weaker dollar lifted gold prices while oil traded up nearly 2 percent in Asian trade on hopes for demand recovery in China, the largest crude importer in the world. China's Shanghai Composite index rose 0.58 percent to 3,176.08 as Beijing prepares to relax restrictions on borrowing for property developers.

Hong Kong's Hang Seng index jumped 1.89 percent to 21,388.34 amid expectations that Chinese economic growth will eventually rebound this year.

Japanese markets were closed on account of Coming-of-Age holiday.

Seoul stocks extended gains for the fourth straight session amid expectations of slower U.S. rate hikes and hopes of demand recovery in China.

The Kospi average climbed 2.63 percent to 2,350.19. Hyundai Motor, Samsung Electronics, SK Hynix and LG Energy Solution jumped 3-5 percent.

Australian markets ended higher for the fourth day running, with energy stocks and gold miners leading the surge. Santos, Woodside Energy, Northern Star Resources and Newcrest Mining added 1-3 percent.

Computershare tumbled 5.5 percent in the tech sector after a brokerage downgrade. The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 rose 0.59 percent to 7,151.30 while the broader All Ordinaries index closed 0.64 percent higher at 7,355.80.

Across the Tasman, New Zealand's benchmark S&P/NZX-50 index edged up 0.18 percent to 11,646.45 in light trading.

U.S. stocks posted strong gains on Friday as data showing a contraction in U.S. services industry activity for the first time in more than 2-1/2 years and signs of a cooling wage growth raised hopes for a change to aggressive Fed policy.

The Dow jumped 2.1 percent, the S&P 500 surged 2.3 percent and the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite climbed 2.6 percent.