Asian Stock Market: Tracks S&P 500, Euro Stoxx 50 Futures to the north
- Markets begin February on firmer tone as Fed fears ease, earnings rise.
- Off in China, Hong Kong restricts moves, Indian bourses ignore RBI rate hike concerns.
- NZX 50 cheers mixed NZ employment data, RBA’s Lowe propels ASX 200.
Equity investors remain mostly positive during Wednesday’s Asian session as fears of the Fed’s monetary policy tightening fade. Also favoring the stock buyers are upbeat earnings and the market’s bullish consolidation during the month-start moves.
While portraying the mood, MSCI’s index of Asia-Pacific shares ex-Japan rises 0.20% but Japan’s Nikkei 225 rallies 1.7% BOJ Governor Kuroda praise easy money policies.
On the same line was RBA Governor Philip Lowe who refrained from rate lift signals and favored ASX 200 to rise around 1.20% heading into Wednesday’s European session. Further, New Zealand’s NZX 50 also pleased the bulls with near 2.0% daily jump after the Q4 employment data failed to bolster RBNZ hawks.
It should be noted that off in China and Hong Kong limits the market moves elsewhere but India as New Delhi still rejoices Union Budget while paying a little heed to the RBI rate hike concerns.
On a broader front, the US 10-year Treasury yields fade the previous day’s rebound from a weekly low near 1.80% while upbeat prints of the Wall Street benchmarks seem to help the S&P 500 Futures to remain firm around 4,555 at the latest. Additionally, Euro Stoxx 50 Futures also rise 0.30% by the press time.
It’s worth noting that the US Dollar Index (DXY) remains pressured for the fourth consecutive day near the weekly low but commodities aren’t capable of extending the previous gains.
That said, the key challenges to the sentiment are mixed comments from the US Federal Reserve (Fed) officials and the recently firmer US data, as well as the US Senate’s procedural voting on China Competition Bill. On the contrary, receding fears of Russia’s immediate invasion of Ukraine join the market’s optimism to overcome the Omicron-linked supply crunch fears.
Moving on, the Eurozone Consumer Price Index (CPI) for January, expected 4.4% YoY versus 5.5% prior, will precede the early signal to Friday’s US Nonfarm Payrolls (NFP), namely the US ADP Employment Change for January, expected 207K versus 807K prior, to direct market’s intraday moves. Though, major attention will be given to Fedspeak and Russia-Ukraine headlines.
Read: US T-bond yields fade bounce off weekly low, stock futures track Wall Street gains