The past week’s global stock rebound continued in the Asia Pacific region on Friday, following on fresh gains in the U.S. as worries about aggressively higher interest rates eased.
A report showing a weaker-than-expected increase for U.S. consumer prices in April helped push the dollar
DXY, -0.01%
and bond yields lower after recent gains, cooling concerns of a more-aggressive pace of rate increases from the Federal Reserve.
“The inflation reading is a positive setup” for Asian equities, said James Cheo, a senior investment strategist at Bank of Singapore, providing investors “some reassurance” that inflation remains well checked.
Gains of more than 0.5% were seen early in many Asia-Pacific stock indexes, with Japan’s Nikkei Stock Average
NIK, +0.90%
up 0.8% despite the dollar’s decline. The WSJ Dollar Index
BUXX, +0.03%
drop was the biggest in seven weeks. A stronger yen
USDJPY, +0.06%
often pressures Japanese stocks lower.
Meanwhile, Singapore’s Straits Times Index
STI, +0.31%
rose 0.5% following Thursday’s underperformance in the wake of a surprise opposition win in elections in neighboring Malaysia. Markets there remain closed until Monday; a U.S.-listed exchange-traded fund of Malaysian stocks rebounded 1.8% following a 6% plunge Wednesday.
Around the region, China’s Shanghai Composite
SHCOMP, +0.04%
slipped 0.1%. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng
HSI, +1.43%
was up 0.9%. In Australia, its leading stock average
XJO, +0.30%
rose 0.3%.
Oil futures
CLM8, -0.08%
were little changed in Asia after hitting their highest levels in more than three years Thursday.
Source : MTV
