Market Buzz: Higher start after holidays

2 May, 2012 05:17 / Updated 13 years ago

Russian stocks are likely to open higher on Wednesday after a three-day-holiday, bolstered by positive background on the global floors.

Asian stock markets traded higher Wednesday after the data showed a steady improvement of Chinese manufacturing sector in April. The Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI) rose to 53.3 in April compared to 53.1 in March and 51.0 in February, according to data from the China Federation of Logistics & Purchasing.Hong Kong’s Hang Seng was up 1%, while the Shanghai Composite rose 0.8% as mainland Chinese traded for the first time this week. Meanwhile Japan’s Nikkei Stock grew 0.41%, the Australian S&P/ASX 200 advanced 0.15% and South Korea’s Kospi climbed 0.8%.US stocks climbed Tuesday after a report showing US manufacturing surged in April. The Institute for Supply Management’s index climbed to 54.8% in April from 53.4% in March. The Dow Jones was up 0.5%, reaching its highest level since December 2007, while the S&P 500 added 0.6%. European stocks traded higher on Tuesday, while most of the floors were closed for May Day. The Stoxx Europe 600 rose 0.4% pushed up by better than expected data on US manufacturing activity.Russian stocks closed slightly higher on Saturday, a gazetted working day ahead of the three-day break. The MICEX grew 0.19% while the RTS shed 0.1%.