SYDNEY: Asian shares hit historic highs on Monday after Wall Street extended its record-breaking run, while the U.S. dollar retreat continued as investors priced in the risk of tighter policies elsewhere in the developed world.
Activity was restrained somewhat as a U.S. holiday curbed trade in cash Treasuries, though E-Mini futures for the S&P500 still made gains of 0.22 percent.
MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan rose 0.6 percent, having finally cleared the former all-time top of 591.50 from late 2007.
Australia’s main index firmed 0.2 percent, while Japan’s Nikkei added 0.3 percent.
Stocks in Hong Kong jumped 0.9 percent to another record. Investors were optimistic that Chinese gross domestic product data for the December quarter due on Thursday would show growth of at least 6.7 percent for the world’s second biggest economy.
Wall Street was on a roll as the fourth-quarter earnings season kicked off with solid results from banks and robust retail sales, driving investor optimism about economic growth.
The Dow amassed gains of 2 percent last week, while the Nasdaq gained 1.8 percent and the S&P 500 1.6 percent. The S&P 500 and Nasdaq scored eight record closing highs out of the first nine trading days of 2018, while the Dow boasted its sixth closing high of the year.
Earnings for S&P 500 companies are expected to increase on average by 12.1 percent in the quarter, with profit for financial services companies likely to increase 13.2 percent, data revealed.
