Markets rise amid rallies in US, China

Most Asian markets rose yesterday following another record for the S&P 500 on Wall Street that came on the back of optimism over the US economic outlook and a positive run of earnings.

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That has helped offset fading expectations the Federal Reserve will cut interest rates several times this year starting in March.

Adding to the positive sentiment was news of China's fresh measures to boost bank lending. The People's Bank of China (PBOC) said it would lower next month the amount of cash banks must keep in reserve as it looks to ramp up lending to help kick-start the stuttering economy.

The 0.5 percentage point cut in the reserve requirement ratio would pump an extra $140 billion into financial markets, the PBOC said.