Asia-Pacific markets rise as investors assess Chinese policymakers’ comments at investment summit

Asia-Pacific markets rose Tuesday after Tesla helped lift Wall Street overnight, and as investors parsed Chinese financial policymakers’ speech at an investment summit in Hong Kong.

Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 rose 0.89% to close at 8,374. Japan’s Nikkei 225 closed 0.51% higher at 38,414.43, while the Topix advanced 0.68% to 2,710.03. South Korea’s Kospi climbed 0.12% to end at 2,471.95.

Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index was up 0.40% as of its last hour of trade, while mainland China’s CSI 300 climbed 0.67% to close at 3,976.89.

At a meeting earlier this month, members of Australia’s central bank maintained that while there was no immediate need to adjust interest rates, it is important to remain “forward looking” and ready to adjust as economic conditions develop.

Chinese Vice Premier He Lifeng said at a global financiers summit in Hong Kong that China will support Hong Kong innovation and financial reform, enhancing the city’s “financial competitiveness.” He reiterated Beijing’s commitment to “explore and implement” measures aimed at building Hong Kong as an “international financial center.”

Li Yunze, the head of China’s National Financial Regulatory Administration, will join Wu Qing, Chairman of the China Securities Regulatory Commission, and Zhu Hexin, Deputy Governor of the People’s Bank of China, for a panel discussion on mainland China’s financial developments, the HKMA summit’s agenda revealed.

Overnight in the U.S., the Nasdaq Composite rose following a rough week, as Tesla shares advanced and Wall Street looked ahead to some major market-moving earnings reports.

The Nasdaq advanced 0.6% to settle at 18,791.81, while the S&P 500 added about 0.4% to close at 5,893.62. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 55.39 points, or 0.1%, to finish at 43,389.60.

Monday’s movements come after a challenging week for the three major benchmarks, which have now pulled back from the peaks reached following Donald Trump’s election win. The decline was fueled by concerns over the direction of interest rates after Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell stated that the central bank is not “in a hurry” to cut rates.