Asian stocks rise after Wall St . rebound

BEIJING — Asian stock markets followed Wall Street higher on Wednesday after President Joe Biden reassured investors by calling for vaccinations and testing, but no travel restrictions, in response to the omicron coronavirus variant.

Tokyo, Hong Kong and Seoul were up, while Shanghai fell less than 0.1%.

Wall Street rose, breaking a three-day decline and rebounding from the previous day’s losses.

Biden announced that the government will provide 500 million free rapid test kits and increase vaccination efforts, but gave no indication of plans for travel bans or other restrictions that could disrupt the economy. Other governments in Asia and Europe have tightened travel controls or reversed plans to ease curbs already in place.

Biden “gave some much-needed reassurance to the markets,” IG’s Yeap Jun Rong said in a report.

The Shanghai Composite Index fell to 3,622.34 while the Nikkei 225 in Tokyo rose less than 0.1% to 28,533.54. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng rose 0.8% to 23,143.11.

The Kospi in Seoul rose 0.2% to 2,980.69, while the S&P-ASX 200 in Sydney lost 0.2% to 7,340.10.

New Zealand declined as the Southeast Asian markets advanced.

Traders were shocked by official statements that omicron was spreading faster than expected after markets raised the prices of airlines, cruise lines, oil and other travel-related stocks in the expectation that tighter controls could be avoided.

This comes amid expectations for tighter US monetary policy after the Federal Reserve said last week it will accelerate plans to phase out economic stimulus that has boosted stock prices. The Fed changed course after inflation rose to a four-decade high of 6.8% in November.

Traders are also concerned about the impact of global supply chain disruptions fueling fears of higher inflation.

On Wall Street, the benchmark S&P 500 rose 1.8% to 4,649.23. The benchmark index is within 1.4% of its all-time high on December 10.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 1.6% to 35,492.70. The Nasdaq composite gained 2.4% to 15,341.09.

Nearly five stocks rose for every exchange that fell on the New York Stock Exchange.

Citrix Systems climbed 13.6% for biggest gain in the S&P 500. Micron Technology rose 10.5% after the chipmaker gave investors an encouraging earnings forecast.

shopkeepers. restaurant chains and other businesses that rely on consumer spending also rose. Tesla climbed 4.3%, Amazon.com rose 2% and Starbucks rose 2.1%.

In the energy markets, the US benchmark rose 59 cents to $71.71 a barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. The contract rose $2.89 to $71.12 on Tuesday. Brent oil, the price base for international oils, rose 61 cents in London to $74.59 a barrel. It won $2.46 to $73.98 in the previous session.

The dollar fell to 114.10 yen from 114.12 yen on Tuesday. The euro rose from $1.1282 to $1.1284.