HK/China Tech Plays Lead The Region Higher

All major regional indices are higher, with HK/China indices leading the way, although other major markets aren't too far behind. The combination of the dovish ECB 50bps hike and efforts to boost troubled US regional banks (First Republic), has been enough to drive positive sentiment heading into the weekend. Signals from other asset classes are supportive, with US yield edging down from session highs, commodities mostly higher and the USD softer. US equity futures are only up modestly though (~0.05/0.10% for Eminis).

• The HSI is up ~1.7% at this stage, with tech stocks leading the way. This sub index is up over 4.0%, with the China internet company Baidu surging amid positive analyst reviews for its AI chatbot.
• The CSI 300 is up ~1.2%, bouncing off support at the 100-day MA. Northbound stock connect flows have rebounded, +11.6bn yuan, slightly off session highs, but still the best inflow since the end of Jan this year.
• The Topix is around ~1.20% firmer at this point, although the underlying bank index is only up 0.4%, still comfortably down versus closing levels from last Friday. The Kospi is +0.75%, although the Taiex is outperforming at +1.4%.
• The ASX 200 is up a modest 0.42%, while bourses in SEA are higher, led by commodity sensitive plays Malaysia (~1.50%) and Indonesia (~1.40%).