HONG KONG, Oct 26, 2022 (BSS/AFP) - Asian stocks rose Wednesday to build on
another strong performance in New York following more healthy earnings from
big-name firms while hopes for a slowdown in Federal Reserve rate hikes
spread cheer.

Hong Kong and Shanghai were among the best performers after China's central
bank and forex officials pledged support for the country's equities, bonds
and yuan, helping investors bounce back from Monday's rout.

The mood across trading floors has been generally positive this week after a
report Friday suggested the Fed could begin discussing applying the brakes on
its monetary tightening campaign aimed at fighting decades-high inflation.

That came as some bank officials hinted they could be open to the prospect of
hiking by less than the 75 basis points seen after the past three meetings.

And while a similar move is expected next month, there are flickers of hope
that the pace could slow in December or next year.

Adding to that optimism was data indicating the higher borrowing costs were
having an impact on the world's biggest economy, with house prices falling,
consumer confidence at a three-month low and weakness in the factory sector.

"A few economic reports all told a similar story... that the economy is
weakening," said OANDA's Edward Moya. "A weakening economy will bring down
inflation and that is good news for long-term investors looking to get back
into equities."

All three main indexes on Wall Street rallied, with the Nasdaq up more than
two percent, helped by a drop in Treasury yields.

Investors also welcomed another round of better-than-expected profits, this
time from Coca-Cola and General Motors. However, after-hours big misses from
Microsoft, Texas Instruments and Google parent Alphabet soured the mood a
little among tech investors.

Still, Asian markets were well up, led by Hong Kong's jump of more than two
percent while Shanghai climbed one percent.

- China concerns -

The rally in Hong Kong came after it collapsed more than six percent Monday
on concerns over Chinese President Xi Jinping's plans after he strengthened
his grip on power and put in top jobs loyalists who backed his economically
painful zero-Covid strategy.

Helping the buying was China's central bank and forex regulator saying they
would maintain the development of stock and bond markets, and that the yuan
would be "basically stable".

The currency sank against the dollar Tuesday, with the onshore yuan hitting a
15-year low and the offshore unit at its lowest level since being allowed to
trade overseas in 2010. Both clawed back some of their losses on Wednesday.

The remarks, however, were in response to the end of the Communist Party's
twice-a-decade gathering in Beijing rather than in reaction to the markets
selloff, Bloomberg News reported.

Elsewhere, Tokyo and Singapore each rose more than one percent while Sydney,
Seoul, Wellington, Taipei, Manila and Jakarta were also up.

The prospect of a slowdown in US rate hikes helped weaken the dollar, which
has surged against most currencies this year.

The yen, which touched a fresh 32-year low of 151.95 per dollar Friday, was
back just above 148, while the euro is hovering just below $1.0 ahead of the
European Central Bank's policy meeting this week that is expected to end with
another big rate hike.

And the pound was also holding above $1.14 after former finance minister
Rishi Sunak took over as UK prime minister, giving a much-needed sense of
stability to markets after weeks of upheaval fuelled by predecessor Liz
Truss's debt-fuelled tax-cutting budget last month.

- Key figures around 0300 GMT -

Tokyo - Nikkei 225: UP 1.20 percent at 27,577.15 (break)

Hong Kong - Hang Seng Index: UP 2.2 percent at 15,492.01

Shanghai - Composite: UP 1.0 percent at 3,007.38

Pound/dollar: DOWN at $1.1460 from $1.1478 on Monday

Dollar/yen: UP at 148.32 yen from 147.92 yen

Euro/dollar: DOWN at $0.9953 from $0.9971

Euro/pound: UP at 86.89 pence from 86.85 pence

West Texas Intermediate: DOWN 0.5 percent at $84.93 per barrel

Brent North Sea crude: DOWN 0.7 percent at $92.84 per barrel

New York - Dow: UP 1.1 percent at 31,836.74 (close)

London - FTSE 100: FLAT at 7,013.48 (close)