By Gina Lee

Investing.com – Asia Pacific stocks were up on Monday morning, boosted by and U.S. shares’ best week since November 2020 before Monday’s Memorial Day holiday.

Japan’s jumped 2% by 10:24 PM ET (2:24 AM GMT) and South Korea’s rose 1.27%.

The Australian rose by 0.91%

Hong Kong’s jumped 2.19%.

China’s gained 0.55% and the inched up 0.04%.

Both the and were up which could indicate that there was more to come from this bounce. The S&P 500 wiped out its May losses and snapped a string of seven consecutive weekly declines as institutional investors rebalanced portfolios in preparation for the end of the month.

The dollar was steady, while the euro fluctuated as the European Union (EU) failed to agree on a revised package of Russian sanctions in response to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine on Feb. 24. Due to the U.S. holiday, Cash Treasuries won’t trade in Asia.

China has reported lower COVID-19 incidences in Shanghai as well as Beijing. This led the government to relax some of its restrictive measures to help boost the economy.

Investors are now asking whether they will see the bottom of the recent selloff. They have been purchasing the dip following one of the worst years for global equity markets. However, concerns remain about tighter monetary policies from central banks, escalating food inflation from the war in Ukraine, and China’s COVID-19 measures

“We are in the middle of a bear market rally,” Citigroup Bloomberg heard from Mahjabeen Zaman, Australia’s chief investment specialist.

“I think the market is going to be trading range bound trying to figure out how soon is that recession coming or how quickly is inflation going down,” with Treasury yields set to peak in 2022, added Zaman.

On Wednesday, the Fed will begin shrinking its $8.9 Trillion balance sheet and release its Beige Book Report on regional economic conditions. Separate events will be held Wednesday by John Williams, New York Fed President, and James Bullard of St. Louis Fed President. Loretta Mester from Cleveland Fed will discuss the economic outlook one day later.

Data-wise, Friday will see the U.S. release their May employment report. The Eurozone consumer price index, alongside China’s and purchasing managers indexes, are due on Tuesday.

Later in the day, EU leaders will begin a special two-day meeting in Brussels to address the conflict in Ukraine, the defense of Ukraine, food security, inflation and energy. Just as global supply concerns are at their peak, Friday will see the release of the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization’s monthly food price index.