Asian Stock Market: Hang Seng index leads the gains in Asian equities

• Asia-pacific indices extended gains on Friday following the US $579 infrastructure deal.
• US dollar subsides after Fed’s dovish stance on interest rates.
• US says Taiwan is not a problem in Chinese relations, reflecting a  fundamental change in US-Taiwan relations.

Asian stocks notch higher on the last trading day of the week. Investors remain optimistic after the US President announced a US $579 billion infrastructure deal. 

The higher movement in Asian shares traced back to the overnight gains on Wall Street. 

The US dollar retreated at 91.76 with 0.3% losses as Fed officials continued to downplay inflationary pressure. The US 10 year Treasury yields were unchanged at 1.49%. 

MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-pacific shares outside Japan gained  0.8%.

Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index advanced 1.14% , with a jump in tech shares.

Japan’s Nikkei 225 rose 0.72%, while  Topix’s index gained 0.7%. South Korea’s Kospi edged higher with 0.6% gains.

It is worth noting that S&P 500 Futures were trading at 4,260, up 0.11% for the day.

Meanwhile, in the latest escalation of the dispute between Australia and China, the latter has launched an open challenge against Australian tariffs on several Chinese products. The Commerce Ministry in China announced on Thursday that it would access WTO procedure to counter Australia’s measures targeting railway wheels, wind towers, and stainless steel sink products from China. 

In addition to that, the US de facto embassy in Taiwan’s Deputy Director Raymond Greene said that Taiwan is no longer a problem in Beijing's relations but an opportunity to promote a “ free open Indo-Pacific trade”.