Traders tracked a rally on Wall Street that was helped by a strong set of earnings from big-name firms including Coca-Cola, Verizon and 3M that fuelled optimism for the reporting season.
The move will lift the fiscal deficit ratio for 2023 to about 3.8 percent of gross domestic product, the official Xinhua news agency said Tuesday, well above the three percent usually considered Beijing's limit. Zhang Zhiwei of Pinpoint Asset Management said the "surprise" move was "another step in the right direction –- China should make its fiscal policy more supportive, given the deflationary pressure in the economy".
"This is not the bazooka, but one of the most significant incremental moves so far," Societe Generale Cross Asset Research wrote in a note. Iran -- which has warned of a pre-emptive strike on Israel -- has recently activated regional militias, fanning fears of a conflagration, while Tel Aviv has also issued broadsides against Hezbollah militants in Lebanon.
"Given the global political pressure, not to mention two US aircraft carrier strike groups prowling the Mediterranean, providing the ultimate 'iron dome', perhaps cooler heads will eventually prevail in the region," said SPI Asset Management's Stephen Innes.Key figures around 0230 GMT Hong Kong - Hang Seng Index: UP 2.4 percent at 17,402.77Pound/dollar: UP at $1.2172 from $1.2161 West Texas Intermediate: DOWN 0.1 percent at $83.64 per barrelNew York - Dow: UP 0.