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Friday, March 29, 2024

Asian shares track Wall St rally on upbeat consumer data

BANGKOKShares advanced in Asia on Thursday after a rally on Wall Street as investors welcomed a report showing U.S. consumer confidence is holding up despite the Federal Reserve’s campaign to fight inflation by raising interest rates.

Hong Kong’s Hang Seng jumped more than 2% and benchmarks also rose in Tokyo, Sydney and Seoul. Shanghai and Mumbai declined. U.S. futures and oil prices were modestly higher.

Markets got a boost from a report showing U.S. consumer confidence is surprisingly strong, despite inflation squeezing wallets. The Conference Board’s consumer confidence index rose to 108.3 in December from 101.4 in November. That pushed the index to its highest level since April. Last month’s figure was the lowest since July.

Asian markets also got a lift from the overnight rally in tech shares, which spilled into trading in Hong Kong. E-commerce giant Alibaba jumped…

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