Asian shares extended their recovery on Tuesday, hitting a three-week high as U.S. borrowing costs eased ahead of Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell’s highly-anticipated first congressional testimony later in the day. MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan rose 0.3 percent, building on its bounce from a two-month low touched on Feb 9. Japan’s Nikkei rose 1.0 percent to three-week highs. On Wall Street, the S&P 500 advanced 1.18 percent on Monday helped by fall in U.S. bond yields. The 10-year U.S. Treasuries yield eased to 2.864 percent, dropping further from its four-year peak of 2.957 percent touched on Feb 21, driven by month-end buying as well as position adjustments ahead of Powell’s testimony. Powell’s debut appearance is seen as critical for financial markets at a time when many investors are nervous about the Fed’s policy normalisation following years of stimulus after the financial crisis almost a decade ago. Many expect the Fed to raise interest rates three to four times this year, as policy makers look to prevent an overheating of the economy especially as growth is set to get another boost from the Trump administration’s tax cuts and spending plans. Yet, investors are worried rising dollar funding costs could bode ill for potential borrowers, including U.S. home buyers and some emerging market companies. MSCI’s gauge of equity market performance in 47 countries gained 0.82 percent on Monday, rising above its Feb 16 high to hit it a three week top. Still, it is down 2.4 percent so… [Read full story]
Related News Asian shares rose on Monday and the dollar wallowed close to its lowest in nearly a month after U.S. nonfarm payrolls showed the slowest job growth in more than five years, quashing expectations for a near-term U.S. interest rate hike. MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan was up 0.4 percent in early trade. Wall Street ended down on Friday, though off session lows, with the S&P 500 finishing within just 1.5 percent of its record closing high. Japan's Nikkei stock index slipped 1.6 percent, after the dollar skidded 2 percent against the yen on Friday. U.S.…... [read more]
Asian shares surged on Monday after weekend meetings of European leaders resulted in "good progress" on tackling a regional debt crisis that has threatened to plunge the world economy into recession. The eurozone wants to beef up its 440-billion-euro ($610 billion) rescue fund, the European Financial Stability Facility, to convince markets it has the means to protect highly indebted nations such as Italy and Greece. However, they announced few concrete details from the weekend meetings, vowing to reveal all at a second summit on Wednesday. Investors were also keeping an eye on the yen, which reached a record post-war high…... [read more]
Asian shares rose on Wednesday after another record-breaking close on Wall Street and strong economic data from the US, though most financial markets in the region were closed for the Christmas holiday. HONG KONG: Asian shares rose on Wednesday after another record-breaking close on Wall Street and strong economic data from the US, though most financial markets in the region were closed for the Christmas holiday. The dollar also traded higher against major currencies in Asia following the latest batch of positive news out of Washington. Tokyo closed up 0.76 percent, or 120.66 points, at 16,009.99, reaching another six-year closing…... [read more]
Asian shares rose in early Asian trade on Tuesday ahead of the U.S. presidential election, with investor sentiment buoyed by improving prospects for Democrat Hillary Clinton to win. The Mexican peso, which has moved in opposite step to perceived chances of Republican Donald Trump winning the election, retained its strong gains from Monday, while the dollar also held steady. Boosting Clinton's chances of winning, and markets globally, was the FBI's statement on Sunday standing by its July finding that Clinton was not guilty of criminal wrongdoing in her use of a private email server. That came after the Bureau announced…... [read more]
Asian shares rose Monday, as Japanese investors picked up shares in technology firms beaten down during the global sell-off of recent weeks, and Aussie stocks were boosted by a buyout move in the banking sector. The dollar rose more than a yen from the day's low, as gains in the share market eased concerns that volatility in financial markets was prompting investors to cash out of riskier assets and pay off the cheap yen loans that had financed them. China's weekend interest rate rise knocked Shanghai copper prices down nearly half a percent on worries of cooling demand. China's main…... [read more]
