Asian stocks higher as investors watch corporate earnings

Asian stocks higher as investors watch corporate earnings

SeattlePI.com

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BEIJING (AP) — Asian stock markets followed Wall Street higher as investors waited for U.S. corporate results Tuesday to see how companies are coping with supply disruptions and the past quarter's surge in coronavirus infections.

Shanghai, Tokyo, Hong Kong and Sydney advanced.

Wall Street's benchmark S&P 500 index rose 0.3%, propelled by tech and consumer stocks.

”It was a good day to be a mega-cap tech stock," said Edward Moya of Oanda in a report.

The Shanghai Composite Index rose 0.7% to 3,593.23 and the Nikkei 225 in Tokyo advanced 0.6% to 29,198.90. The Hang Seng in Hong Kong added 1.2% to 25,708.52.

The Kospi in Seoul was 0.6% higher at 3,027.15 and Sydney's S&P-ASX 200 gained 0.1% to 7,386.60.

India's Sensex opened 0.2% higher at 61,894.25. New Zealand and Singapore advanced while Bangkok and Jakarta declined.

On Wall Street, health care giant Johnson & Johnson, United Airlines and streaming entertainment service Netflix were due to report earnings Tuesday. American Airlines and Southwest Airlines follow Thursday.

Companies are warning that supply disruptions stemming from the pandemic are hampering production and could hurt them financially.

Investors worry that is fueling inflation and might slow an economic recovery.

“The inflation pressures we expected are here — and are persistent,” researchers at the BlackRock Investment Institute said in a report.

On Wall Street, the S&P 500 rose to 4,486.46. The index gained 1.8% last week.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 36.15 points, or 0.1%, to 35,258.61. The Nasdaq rose 124.47, or 0.8%, 15,021.81.

Chipmaker Nvidia rose 1.6% and Target rose 3.2%.

Those gains were tempered by losses for health care and other companies. Medical device vendor...

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