Asia stocks increase as investors evaluate omicron risks

Shares in Asia-Pacific seemed higher during Wednesday’s trade as investors continued to evaluate the effect of omicron.

Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index accumulated 0.34%, paring earlier earnings of more than 1.5%. Mainland Chinese stocks stood higher, with the Shanghai composite staying above the flatline and the Shenzhen component moving to 0.684%.

The Nikkei 225 sat 0.16% higher in Japan, paring earlier earnings. The Topix index rose 0.14%. South Korea’s Kospi earned 0.22%.

The S&P/ASX 200 recovered from earlier losses in Australia as it rose around 0.2%.

MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares accumulated 0.32% outside Japan.

Singapore travel stocks beat

Singapore travel stocks dropped in Wednesday trade. It happened after its health ministry announced the freezing of new ticket sales for quarantine-free travel. It will start Thursday to limit exposure to imported new omicron cases.

Shares of Singapore Airlines declined 0.83%, while SATS fell 0.53%. The broader Straits Times index in Singapore went higher.

Japan Airlines shares in Japan increased 3.48%, while ANA Holdings increased 1.76%. Australia’s Qantas Airways rose 0.53%.

In Hong Kong, shares of Cathay Pacific seemed up 1.12%, while China Eastern Airlines fell 1.06%.

Tech shares in Asia rise

Technology shares in Asia increased in Wednesday trade.

Shares of Chinese tech giants in Hong Kong reduced earlier gains but stayed in positive territory. Alibaba stood up 0.45%, while Tencent accumulated 0.19%, and Meituan increased by 0.97%. The Hang Seng Tech index traded 0.78% higher.

Over in Japan, Softbank Group’s stock earned 0.38%, while South Korea-listed shares of chipmaker SK Hynix rose 2.02%, and Kakao Games earned an additional 2.73%.

The Nasdaq Composite jumped from 2.5% to 15,341.08.

Other major indexes on Wall Street also saw considerable gains as the Dow Jones Industrial Average increased 560.55 points to 35,492.71 while the S&P 500 earned 1.79% to 4,649.24.