Asian stocks rise as debt ceiling fears abate, Sony boosts Nikkei

Investing.com– Most Asian stock markets rose on Thursday, tracking gains on Wall Street amid optimism that the U.S. debt ceiling will be raised, while gains in Japanese conglomerate  Sony boosted the Nikkei to a 20-month high.

The jumped 1.5%, supported chiefly by a near 6% rise in the shares of Sony Corp (TYO:) after the firm said it was considering t. The gaming conglomerate said the move could happen in the next three years, and that it will distribute shares of the new firm as a dividend.

A bigger-than-expected drop in Japan’s also aided sentiment, helping the Nikkei extend its winning streak into a sixth straight session. The index has vastly outpaced its Asian peers this year, aided by a stellar earnings season, resilience in the Japanese economy and dovish signals from the Bank of Japan.

Broader Asian markets also rose, tracking after the Biden Administration said that a deal on raising the U.S. debt ceiling could be reached as soon as this week.

This helped ease fears of a potential U.S. debt default, as a June 1 deadline for policymakers reaching an agreement approaches.

But gains in Asian markets were still held back by caution over slowing economic growth, particularly in China.

China’s and indexes rose 0.4% and 0.8%, respectively, snapping two straight days of losses after a string of weak economic readings from the country.

Recent data suggested that a post-COVID economic rebound in China was running out of steam, which bodes poorly for Asian markets with heavy trade exposure to the country.

Still, gains in technology stocks also aided Asian markets. Hong Kong’s rose 1.2%, supported by a 3.2% jump in shares of Alibaba Group Holding Ltd (HK:) (NYSE:) ahead of its first quarter earnings due later in the day.

The stock was also supported by the Big Short’s Michael Burry doubling his stake in the Chinese e-commerce giant, on a bet that the firm will benefit greatly from a Chinese reopening this year.

Other tech-heavy indexes also rose, with South Korea’s up 0.5%, while the index rose 1.1%.

Australia’s index added 0.5% after a softer-than-expected spurred hopes that the Reserve Bank will pause future interest rate hikes.