Asian stocks finished mostly higher on Friday fed by hopes that the Chinese government would ease its Covid curbs and also reverse its Zero Covid strategy. Hang Seng led the gains with a more than 5 percent surge. Japanese benchmarks however dropped as Thursday's market holiday delayed the Fed-fueled decline.
China's Shanghai Composite Index rallied 73 points or 2.43 percent to finish at 3,070.80. The day's trading ranged between 2997.00 and 3,081.59. The Shenzhen Component Index added 347 points or 3.20 percent to close at 11,187.43.
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Market Analysis
May 22, 2026 14:46 ET Minutes of the latest Fed policy session was the highlight of the week along with survey data on the U.S. housing market. In Europe, survey data signaled the trends in the euro area private sector. Further, consumer price inflation data from the U.K. was in focus. In Asia, various economic indicators from China drew attention to the health of the economy.