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HONG KONG – Asian markets rose today after China said it would end quarantine for arrivals, spurring hopes for the revival of the world’s second-largest economy and boosting oil which continued its upward surge on fears of Russian production cuts.
China had abruptly reversed its strict pandemic restrictions even as a surge in infections began overtaking the country.
The curbs had torpedoed the economy and sparked nationwide protests. The latest easing will see three years of border controls end on January 8 when Beijing downgrades Covid-19 to a Class B infectious disease, ending mandatory quarantine for overseas arrivals.
The news has sent people in China rushing to search for overseas flights and is set to be a major boon for business travel into the world’s second-largest economy.
Tokyo, Seoul, Shanghai and Singapore were all higher while markets in Hong Kong and Sydney were still closed for the Christmas break.
After a holiday for commodities traders yesterday, oil continued its surge after a senior official saying Russia could cut up to 7% of its production next year.
Production was also curtailed by freezing conditions in the United States, where more than 1.8 million barrels a day of oil processing capacity in Texas was hit by extreme weather, Bloomberg News reported.
Both Brent Crude and West Texas Intermediate jumped nearly 1% over the supply shortfalls and expectations of renewed demand from China.
Markets have been buoyed by a set of fresh data last week that indicated a slowing of US inflation, as well as an uptick in consumer spending, which saw Wall Street take gains into the Christmas break. – AFP, December 27, 2022
