Shares in Asia traded within narrow ranges Thursday after US stocks ticked higher and Treasuries fell on data showing US consumers expect inflation to persist.
NSE
Equities in Australia edged lower while those in South Korea were mostly unchanged. Stock futures for Hong Kong slipped, even as an index of US-listed China shares gained ground. Japanese markets are closed for a holiday.
The S&P 500 rose 0.4% Wednesday, ahead of the Thanksgiving holiday, resuming a November rally that has lifted the index around 8%, on track for its best month since July last year. US futures were little changed in early Asian trading.
Treasuries fell Wednesday, weighing on Australian and New Zealand government bond yields in Asian trading. The market for cash Treasuries in Asia will be closed given Japan’s holiday.
The selling in Treasuries pushed the two-year and five-year yields three basis points higher. The increase in yields reflected fresh data showing Americans expect inflation to climb at an annual rate of 4.5% over the next year, up from the 4.4% expected earlier in the month, according the University of Michigan.
Despite the Wednesday rise in Treasury yields, the longer-term downward trend for rates will help stocks and bonds rally into the coming year, according to Audrey Goh, Head of Asset Allocation and Thematic Strategy for the Wealth Management Group at Standard Chartered Bank.
“We do expect the stock market rally to continue,” Goh said in an interview on Bloomberg Television. “If you look at inflation, that clearly has moderated so that will allow the Fed to stand pat. Our expectation is that policy rates have peaked.”
Rising US yields helped the dollar, which rose against major currencies Wednesday, staunching a decline from earlier in the week. Asian currencies were muted Thursday with the yen steady at above 149 per dollar after weakening in the prior session.
In Asia, Indonesia’s central bank is expected to keep its benchmark interest rate steady. Data set for release include Taiwan industrial production and Singapore consumer prices.
China’s property sector remains in focus. China’s Shenzhen rolled out two new homebuying measures to spur activity in its property market. Country Garden Holdings Co. and Sino-Ocean Group have also been included on China’s draft list of 50 developers eligible for a range of financing support, according to people familiar with the matter.
Elsewhere, reports showed some market participants are wary of reconnect with the Industrial & Commercial Bank of China Ltd. following a cyberattack that affected trading.
Investors were also keenly awaiting news on a Brookfield Asset Management-led offer to buy Origin Energy Ltd. Brookfield and EIG Global Energy Partners made a revised takeover offer early Thursday, hours before a shareholder vote that was expected to reject an existing bid.
Oil extended losses in Asia after falling close to 1% in the previous session on news that the OPEC+ group of oil producing countries would delay a meeting, reducing the likelihood of an imminent production cut to buoy prices.
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