Mostly Higher As Russia-Ukraine Worry Moderates

Asia-Pac equity indices are mostly higher on a positive lead from U.S. and European markets, with Japanese stocks bucking the wider trend of gains. High-beta equities across the region broadly outperformed as hope re: a de-escalation in the Russia-Ukraine conflict has spilled over into Asian hours, adding to an easing in stagflation-linked worry as commodity benchmarks have backed away from recent highs as well.

• The CSI300 leads gains amongst regional peers, being 2.0% better off at writing and operating at session highs. Richly valued consumer staples and healthcare stocks lead gains, with the largest contributions observed in Chinese liquor stocks. Chinese tech stocks caught a strong bid as well, with the tech-heavy ChiNext and STAR50 sitting 2.9% and 2.3% higher at typing respectively.
• The Hang Seng trades 1.2% higher at typing, led by gains in the real estate and financials sub-indices. The index has backed away from session highs as China-based tech stocks pared earlier gains, with the Hang Seng Tech Index printing 0.3% better off at typing after recording gains of up to 2.3% earlier in the session. The pullback comes as WSJ source reports have pointed to Chinese authorities planning to place curbs on the country’s $30bn live-streaming industry, raising worry re: regulatory action on some large-cap technology names.
• The Japanese Nikkei 225 underperformed, sitting 1.4% lower at typing. The move lower comes as the JPY has retreated below Y122.00 in Asia, unwinding some of the recent dynamic re: yen weakness boosting hopes re: corporate earnings for Japanese companies.
• U.S. e-mini equity index futures deal 0.1% to 0.2% weaker at typing.