Stocks mostly rise but China data hits Hong Kong

Stocks mostly rise but China data hits Hong Kong

LONDON: World stock markets mostly rose yesterday, with Tokyo leading the way as a win for Japan’s ruling party in a weekend general election fuelled hopes it will push ahead with a fresh stimulus, although Hong Kong was hit by data showing further weakness in China’s economy. The yen neared a four-year low against the dollar with Japan seemingly not on course to tighten monetary policy in the short term, in contrast to the Federal Reserve which this week could announce plans to begin tapering its pandemic-fuelled stimulus support.

“European markets are following the Japanese lead after a Liberal Democrat majority helped drive the Nikkei higher,” noted Joshua Mahony, senior market analyst at IG trading group. Tokyo’s main stocks index closed up 2.6 percent after Prime Minister Fumio Kishida won a strong majority in the weekend poll, giving him the freedom to push through a big spending program to kick-start the stuttering economy.

Investors were looking ahead to the Federal Reserve, which this week is expected to unveil a timetable for tapering its vast bond-buying stimulus program. A statement by Fed boss Jerome Powell following the monetary policy meeting will be closely followed for an idea about when the US central bank