Sydney — Asian shares scaled four-month peaks on Monday as investors counted on supercheap liquidity and fiscal stimulus to sustain the global economic recovery, even as surging coronavirus cases delayed reopenings across the US.Eyes were on Chinese blue chips, which jumped 3%, on top of a 7% gain last week, to their loftiest level in five years. Even Japan’s Nikkei, which has lagged with a soft domestic economy, managed a rise of 1.3%.
“We see a number of catalysts that could drive Asia ex-Japan equities’ outperformance over US equities in the near term,” they added. “Better Covid-19 trends and mobility data in economies/markets that dominate the AeJ index should translate into faster economic recovery vs the US.” Most markets had gained ground last week as a raft of economic data from June beat expectations, though the resurgence of coronavirus cases in the US is clouding the future.
Two US aircraft carriers conducted exercises in the disputed South China Sea on Saturday, the US Navy said, as China also carried out military drills that have been criticised by the Pentagon and neighbouring states.