The Albany Gazette - Asian markets track Wall St gains as tech inspires Hong Kong

Traders have kicked off the week on a positive note after Beijing at the weekend unveiled a range of measures aimed at reigniting activity in China's army of consumers.

That was followed Monday by figures showing a key measure of US retail sales topped forecasts in February, suggesting recent concerns about a possible downturn in the world's top economy may have been overblown.

However, while there have been no new announcements in recent days, investors continue to fret over the impact of Donald Trump's trade war on global growth.

Hong Kong, which has piled on more than a fifth since the turn of the year, led the gains Tuesday thanks to further buying of Chinese tech firms.

Alibaba, Tencent and JD.com were in the vanguard once again but electric vehicle maker BYD was also a big winner -- jumping more than six percent to hit a record high -- after it unveiled battery technology it says can charge in five minutes.

Shanghai also rose, along with Tokyo, Sydney, Seoul, Singapore, Taipei and Manila.

The rally came after a second successive day of gains on Wall Street, which has been hammered this month by a sell-off sparked by Trump's tariffs campaign that many fear could ramp up US inflation and hammer the economy.

However, SPI Asset Management's Stephen Innes warned investors not to get too comfortable, with fresh levies on US trading partners due to kick in as soon as April 1.

"Don't get too comfortable -- nervous eyes remain locked on Washington's tariff tumult," he wrote in a commentary.

"The storm is far from over, and with the next escalation looming, the market is still walking a fine line between optimism and another sharp reality check."

Uncertainty about the impact of the tariffs helped safe-haven gold hit a fresh record of $3,008.53 in early trade Tuesday.

This week is due to see policy decisions by the Federal Reserve, Bank of Japan and Bank of England, with all three forecast to stand pat on interest rates.

The US central bank's announcement will also come with updates to its outlook for the economy and interest rates this year, in light of Trump's trade measures as well as plans to slash taxes, immigration and federal jobs.

"We do not expect major changes in forward guidance on policy rates in the updated (policy board) statement," said Ryan Wang, US economist for HSBC.

"The statement could repeat that risks to (its) employment and inflation goals 'are roughly in balance' and that the 'economic outlook is uncertain'."

However, he did say that while he saw no major changes to the bank's median economic outlook, "the changes that we do expect are in a pessimistic direction".

- Key figures around 0230 GMT -

Tokyo - Nikkei 225: UP 1.5 percent at 37,943.23 (break)

Hong Kong - Hang Seng Index: UP 1.9 percent at 24,599.48

Shanghai - Composite: UP 0.2 percent at 3,432.30

Euro/dollar: DOWN at $1.0911 from $1.0925 on Monday

Pound/dollar: DOWN at $1.2977 from $1.2990

Dollar/yen: UP at 149.51 yen from 149.12 yen

Euro/pound: UP at 84.08 pence from 84.07 pence

West Texas Intermediate: UP 0.3 percent at $67.75 per barrel

Brent North Sea Crude: UP 0.3 percent at $71.25 per barrel

New York - Dow: UP 0.9 percent at 41,841.63 (close)

London - FTSE 100: UP 0.6 percent at 8,680.29 (close)

(S.Perez--TAG)