Most Asian stock markets right now continued to rise amid rising expectations of a hawkish Federal Reserve easing, while the Australian stock market lagged as inflation in the country hit a 32-year high, indicating more economic turmoil.

Asian stock market rises at current

Hong Kong and Chinese indices were the leaders of the day as they recovered from a sharp drop earlier in the week. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng rose 2% from a 13-year low and China’s Shanghai Shenzhen CSI 300 index gained 1.4%.

However, both indices are trading significantly lower for the week amid concerns about China’s political climate and slowing economic growth.

The rest of the Asian indices rose, ignoring the weak start to trading on Wall Street. Japan’s Nikkei 225 index added 0.8% and Malaysia’s index was the top gainer in Southeast Asia, up 0.5%.

Sentiment in risk-oriented markets improved amid growing expectations that damage to the U.S. economy may prompt the Federal Reserve to soften its hawkish stance.

The market remains unanimous about the likelihood of a 75 basis point rate hike in November. But estimates that the central bank will go for a smaller rate hike in December are rising.

A series of weak U.S. economic data this week also fueled speculation of a potential reversal. Attention will now turn to third-quarter U.S. GDP data due out later this week, which will give more insight into the state of the world’s largest economy.

This year, a series of sharp interest rate hikes by the U.S. Federal Reserve has had a strong impact on Asian stocks as rising yields and limited liquidity have negatively impacted sentiment toward risky assets. This trend is likely to continue in the near term.

Earlier we reported that the US stock market ended Monday with growth.