: Asian shares advance despite Wall Street retreat #IndiaNEWS #Business Bangkok, Mar 3:Stocks advanced in Asia on Wednesday after a wobbly day on Wall Street, when the S&P 500 gave back most of

Asian shares advance despite Wall Street retreat #IndiaNEWS #Business
Bangkok, Mar 3:Stocks advanced in Asia on Wednesday after a wobbly day on Wall Street, when the S&P 500 gave back most of its gains from a day earlier.
Hong Kong led the advance, gaining 1. 7 per cent. Tokyo, Seoul, Shanghai and Sydney also were higher.
Investors have taken heart from an easing in bond prices that has alleviated worries over possible interest rate hikes. Bond yields have eased and the yield on the 10-year Treasury inched down to 1. 40 per cent early Wednesday.
But expectations for stronger economic growth in coming months continue to fuel worries that interest rates will head higher.
“It feels like we are in the eye of the storm, Stephen Innes of Axi said in a commentary. Investors have recently focused on selling high-priced technology shares but are also watching for policy changes as President Joe Bidens USD 1. 9 billion stimulus package heads into the Senate after narrowly passing in the House.
“How much overheating and inflation will the Biden fiscal stimulus generate remains at the top of virtually every market conversation, Innes said.
In Hong Kong, the Hang Seng rose to 29,591. 76. Tokyos Nikkei 225 index added 0. 2 per cent to 29,473. 25, while the Kospi in Seoul picked up 0. 6 per cent to 3,062. 99.
The Shanghai Composite index advanced 1. 3 per cent to 3,555. 28.
Australias S&P/ASX 200 gained 0. 8 per cent to 6,815. 40 after the government reported the economy grew at a 3. 1 per cent quarterly rate, but a minus 1. 1 per cent annual rate, in the fourth quarter of last year. The better than expected result was helped by consumer demand and public spending, analysts said.
Indias Sensex opened 0. 8 per cent higher.
On Tuesday, the S&P 500 fell 0. 8 per cent to 3,870. 29 after earlier flipping between small gains and losses.
A day before, the benchmark index had leaped 2. 4 per cent for its best performance since June. Technology and internet stocks accounted for much of the selling, a reversal from a day earlier.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average lost 0. 5 per cent to 31,391. 52. The tech-heavy Nasdaq composite dropped 1. 7 per cent, to 13,358. 79.
Smaller companies fared worse than the rest of the market.
The Russell 2000 small-cap index gave up 43. 81 points, or 1. 9 per cent, to 2,231. 51.
Higher interest rates force investors to rethink how much theyre willing to pay for stocks, making each USD 1 of profit that companies earn a little less valuable.
Thats making Wall Street reconsider the value of technology stocks, in large part because their recent dominance left them looking even pricier than the rest of the market.
Treasury yields rose above 1. 50 per cent recently with expectations for economic growth and inflation, up from about 0.