Asian markets track Wall St records on stimulus optimism

Hopes that US lawmakers would pass President Joe Biden’s huge stimulus package helped push Asian markets higher again Monday, while traders were also cheered by falling coronavirus infection rates and vaccine rollouts.

After a rout at the end of January, the global rally across equities appeared to be back on track, despite concerns that valuations may have become a little too frothy.

A well-below-forecast jobs report out of the United States ramped up expectations that Congress would pass Biden’s $1.9 trillion spending bill in the next few weeks.

Figures showed the economy created less than half the jobs than expected last month, which analysts said reinforced the need…