SYDNEY, NSW, Australia – A resurgence of Covid in China, Australia and New Zealand has failed to stem a Wall Street inspired rally on Asian stock markets Wednesday.

Even the continual pounding of Ukrainian cities and the potential default on $117 million worth of Russian sovereign debt failed to keep a leash on sellers.

Two Russian government bonds have now missed interest payments, however, there is a 30 day grace period which means an actual default will not register until 15 April.

Meantime the U.S. Federal Reserve later Wednesday is widely expected to raise official U.S. interest rates by 25 basis points. This will be the first increase by the Fed in 3 years.

Leading the charge Wednesday was a dramatic resurgence of stock markets in Hong Kong. The benchmark Hang Seng index rocketed up a 1,672.42 points or 9.08 percent gain to 20,087.50.

China’s Shanghai Composite rallied 106.75 points or 3.48 percent to 3,170.71.

In Japan, the Nikkei 225 stacked up 415.53 points or 1.64 percent to 25,762.01.

The Australian All Ordinaries gained 72.60 points or 0.99 percent to close Wednesday at 7,428.70.

New Zealand stocks shrugged off the record 24 Covid-19 deaths recorded overnight. Across the country cases in the prior 24 hours exceeded 19,000. New Zealand has been largely isolated from the pandemic but is making up lost ground in a hurry.

Regardless the S&P/NZX 50 rose 72.38 points or 0.61 percent to 11,874.11.

In Seoul, South Korea, the Kospi Composite rose 37.70 points or 1.44 percent to 2,659.23.

The U.S. dollar drifted lower ahead of the Fed rate decision. The euro inched up to 1.0993. The British pound firmed to 1.3052. The Japanese yen was a fraction stronger at 118.38. The Swiss franc was stronger at 0.9401.

The Canadian dollar weakened to 1.2791. The Australian dollar was slightly stronger at 0.7227. The New Zealand dollar was in demand at 0.6784.

Overnight on Wall Street, the Nasdaq Composite surged 367.40 points, or 2.92 percent, to 12,948.62.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average jumped 599.10 points, or 1.82 percent, to 33,544.34.

The Standard and Poor’s 500 advanced 89.34 points, or 2.14 percent, to 4,262.45.