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Stocks in Asia Edge Higher; Japan’s Yields Tick Up: Markets Wrap
(Bloomberg) -- Asia stocks saw modest gains on reduced volumes after a lackluster session for U.S. shares. Japanese bond yields ticked higher after the central bank trimmed its debt purchases. Japan’s Topix Index is heading for a fifth straight weekly advance, benefiting from a global turn toward stocks viewed as more cheaply valued. Australian stocks climbed amid rising expectations of another interest-rate cut. Oil prices resumed their advance and 10-year U.S. Treasuries held recent gains. The S&P 500 Index closed little changed Thursday, within 1% of a record, as gains in software companies offset losses for carmakers. Futures were little changed.After a slew of monetary policy decisions this week, investors may now shift their focus to the outlook for negotiations between the U.S. and China as trade deputies from both nations are set to meet. Concerns remain about the state of the global economy, with the OECD lowering its world growth forecast to 2.9% from 3.2% as intensifying trade conflicts take a toll on confidence.“Stocks can continue to rise because they are supported by solid and pretty sturdy fundamentals, but there will be a lot more volatility along the way,” Kate Warne, investment strategist at Edward Jones, told Bloomberg TV. “There’s a lot more monetary stimulus coming into the system.”In Japan, the central bank trimmed its bond purchases in a regular operation, a day after Bank of Japan Governor Haruhiko Kuroda said he’d like to see a steeper yield curve. Ten-year bond yields ticked up toward the bottom of the BOJ’s preferred range of plus or minus 0.2%. Some key events to keep an eye on for the remainder of this week:Friday is quadruple witching day for U.S. markets. When the quarterly expiration of futures and options on indexes and stocks occurs on the same day, increased volatility and trading can follow.Here are the main moves in markets:StocksFutures on the S&P 500 were flat as of 10:25 a.m. in Tokyo. The index was little changed on Thursday.Japan’s Topix index advanced 0.5%.South Korea’s Kospi added 0.2%.Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 Index gained 0.8%.CurrenciesThe yen was at 107.90 per dollar.The offshore yuan held at 7.0932 per dollar.The Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index was steady.The euro bought $1.1053.BondsThe yield on 10-year Treasuries remained at 1.78%.Australia’s 10-year yield dipped to 1.03%.Japan’s 10-year yields were at minus 0.2%.CommoditiesWest Texas Intermediate crude rose 1.1% to 58.82 a barrel.Gold was at $1,501.25 an ounce.To contact the reporter on this story: Adam Haigh in Sydney at ahaigh1@bloomberg.netTo contact the editors responsible for this story: Christopher Anstey at canstey@bloomberg.net, Cormac Mullen, Joanna OssingerFor more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.com©2019 Bloomberg L.P.
https://finance.yahoo.com/news/asia-stocks-set-edge-higher-215212365.html?.tsrc=rss
(Bloomberg) -- Asia stocks saw modest gains on reduced volumes after a lackluster session for U.S. shares. Japanese bond yields ticked higher after the central bank trimmed its debt purchases. Japan’s Topix Index is heading for a fifth straight weekly advance, benefiting from a global turn toward stocks viewed as more cheaply valued. Australian stocks climbed amid rising expectations of another interest-rate cut. Oil prices resumed their advance and 10-year U.S. Treasuries held recent gains. The S&P 500 Index closed little changed Thursday, within 1% of a record, as gains in software companies offset losses for carmakers. Futures were little changed.After a slew of monetary policy decisions this week, investors may now shift their focus to the outlook for negotiations between the U.S. and China as trade deputies from both nations are set to meet. Concerns remain about the state of the global economy, with the OECD lowering its world growth forecast to 2.9% from 3.2% as intensifying trade conflicts take a toll on confidence.“Stocks can continue to rise because they are supported by solid and pretty sturdy fundamentals, but there will be a lot more volatility along the way,” Kate Warne, investment strategist at Edward Jones, told Bloomberg TV. “There’s a lot more monetary stimulus coming into the system.”In Japan, the central bank trimmed its bond purchases in a regular operation, a day after Bank of Japan Governor Haruhiko Kuroda said he’d like to see a steeper yield curve. Ten-year bond yields ticked up toward the bottom of the BOJ’s preferred range of plus or minus 0.2%. Some key events to keep an eye on for the remainder of this week:Friday is quadruple witching day for U.S. markets. When the quarterly expiration of futures and options on indexes and stocks occurs on the same day, increased volatility and trading can follow.Here are the main moves in markets:StocksFutures on the S&P 500 were flat as of 10:25 a.m. in Tokyo. The index was little changed on Thursday.Japan’s Topix index advanced 0.5%.South Korea’s Kospi added 0.2%.Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 Index gained 0.8%.CurrenciesThe yen was at 107.90 per dollar.The offshore yuan held at 7.0932 per dollar.The Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index was steady.The euro bought $1.1053.BondsThe yield on 10-year Treasuries remained at 1.78%.Australia’s 10-year yield dipped to 1.03%.Japan’s 10-year yields were at minus 0.2%.CommoditiesWest Texas Intermediate crude rose 1.1% to 58.82 a barrel.Gold was at $1,501.25 an ounce.To contact the reporter on this story: Adam Haigh in Sydney at ahaigh1@bloomberg.netTo contact the editors responsible for this story: Christopher Anstey at canstey@bloomberg.net, Cormac Mullen, Joanna OssingerFor more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.com©2019 Bloomberg L.P.
https://finance.yahoo.com/news/asia-stocks-set-edge-higher-215212365.html?.tsrc=rss
