NNA - Shares of companies related to travel and consumer goods climbed in Japan and South Korea after China moved to end quarantine for inbound visitors.

Tourism-related stocks surged, with Korea’s Lotte Tour Development Co. climbing as much as 7% and Japan Airport Terminal Co. gaining 3.7%. Among makers of cosmetics popular with Chinese consumers, Shiseido Co. jumped 5.7% in Tokyo and Amorepacific Corp. gained 5.6% in Seoul. Chinese shares also advanced, with the CSI 300 Index up as much as 0.6%.

“The Chinese government is taking a step for complete reopening and this move could refuel momentum for Korean stocks related to Chinese consumption such as cosmetics, leisure and travel firms,” Han Jiyoung, a strategist at Kiwoom Securities Co., wrote in a note.

People arriving in China as of Jan. 8 will no longer be quarantined, though they will still need to submit negative Covid test results, the National Health Commission said Monday. Currently travelers must isolate for five days at a designated hotel or facility and three days at home.

Japanese department-store Takashimaya Co. provided a further lift after it separately raised its full-year profit outlook. Its stock climbed as much as 9.4% while its peer Isetan Mitsukoshi Holdings Ltd. rose 8.2% to the highest level since February 2016.

“I think it is a little early to be certain that the reopening will go according to the planned timeline, just because the infection situation does not look clear yet, but the inbound tourism names have been performing slightly better recently and it makes sense that more buying interest would come,” said Mio Kato, an analyst at LightStream Research.

Among currencies, the Thai baht rose 0.4% against the dollar to 34.608 while the Korean won gained 0.6% versus the US currency to 1267.62 as of 9:39 a.m. in Hong Kong.—Bloomberg 

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