Asian stocks rise as bank stocks rally

Asia-Pacific stocks rose after Wall Street bank stocks rebounded on optimism about the risk of a spillover from the Silicon Valley Bank takeover. U.S. consumer price index for February rose 0.4 percent and 6 percent on the year. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng led the gains in the region, rising 1.16 percent, while the Hang Seng Tech index added 1.68 percent. In mainland China, the Shanghai Composite Index rose 0.67 percent and the Shenzhen Composite added 0.44 percent. South Korea’s Kospi rose 1.5 percent, while the Kosdaq rose 3.3 percent as the country’s unemployment rate fell slightly on the month in February. Japan’s Nikkei 225 rose 0.2 percent, paring some of its earlier gains led by banks and finance, while the Topix rose 0.8 percent. In Australia, the S&P/ASX 200 rose 0.69 percent. Overnight in the U.S., the Dow Jones Industrial Average ended a five-day losing streak with a 1.06 percent gain, while the S&P 500 rose 1.65 percent and the Nasdaq Composite rose 2.14 percent.