Asia-Pacific Markets Rally on Strong U.S. Retail Sales Data Boosting Global Confidence

The Asia-Pacific market has once again seen a broad rally.

Japanese stocks surged, with the Nikkei 225 index soaring more than 1000 points.

Similarly, major indices in South Korea, Singapore, and Australia also posted significant gains.

Analysts attribute this uptick to recent U.S. retail sales data, which alleviated recession fears.

In China, the Shanghai Composite Index and other benchmarks also showed robust performance.

In Hong Kong, the Hang Seng Index and Hang Seng Tech Index both climbed by over 1%.

Tuesday night's U.S. retail sales data for July shattered expectations, showing a year-and-a-half high in overall retail month-over-month growth.

July retail sales in the U.S. increased by 1.0% month-over-month, against expectations of a 0.3% rise. The previous figure was adjusted from a steady state to a 0.2% decrease. Core retail sales saw a 0.4% increase month-over-month, above the anticipated 0.1% climb, with the previous data also revised from a 0.4% to a 0.5% rise.

July's import price index in the U.S. saw a 1.6% year-over-year increase, matching expectations, though month-over-month it ticked up by 0.1%, contrary to the expected 0.1% decline. The export price index showed a 1.4% year-over-year increase, more than the expected 0.1% rise, and climbed by 0.7% month-over-month, beating expectations of no change.

U.S. industrial production for July dropped by 0.6% month-over-month, compared to the anticipated 0.3% decline, with the previous figure revised from a 0.6% rise to a 0.3% gain. Capacity utilization stood at 77.8%, versus the expected 78.5%, and the prior figure was adjusted from 78.8% to 78.4%.

Additionally, initial U.S. jobless claims for last week came in at 227,000, below the expected 235,000. The previous figure was adjusted slightly upward from 233,000 to 234,000. The four-week average was revised from 240,750 to 241,000, and continuing claims for the week ending August 3 stood at 1.864 million, better than the expected 1.875 million and the previous figure, which was adjusted from 1.875 million to 1.871 million.

Following the data release, U.S. stocks saw a significant rally. By the close, the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose by 1.39%, the S&P 500 index climbed by 1.61%, and the NASDAQ jumped by 2.34%. Leading the Dow were Cisco (up 6.8%) and Walmart (up 6.58%).

Other notable performers included Tesla, which gained 6.34%, and Amazon, up 4.4%. Chinese American stocks also performed well, with Hesai Technology rising by 14.88% and Daqo New Energy up by 4.36%.