Asian Stocks
Asian stocks extended gains on Tuesday as overnight strength on Wall Street and the Federal Reserve’s cautious turn underpinned appetite for riskier assets, while the dollar held firm on last week’s upbeat U.S. data.
Asian stocks rose on Thursday, tracking gains on Wall Street, after the chairman of the U.S. Federal Reserve suggested it may nearing an end to its three-year rate tightening cycle, boosting interest in riskier assets.
Spreadbetters expected European stocks to open higher, with Britain’s FTSE gaining 0.3 percent, Germany’s DAX adding 0.35 percent and France’s CAC 0.4 percent.
Washington proposed the extra tariffs after efforts to negotiate a solution to the dispute failed to reach an agreement, senior administration officials said on Tuesday.
U.S. and European equity markets looked set to follow Asia into the red. S&P 500 futures ESc1 were off 1 percent and Dow Jones futures 1YMcv1 were 1.1 percent lower.
The euro bounced back from a 6-1/2-month low after the Italian president rejected a eurosceptic as a key economy minister.
Japan's Nikkei .N225 gained 0.4 percent.
Crude oil prices held near 3-1/2-year highs on supply concerns, while the dollar edged higher, underpinned by a rise in U.S. bond yields.
Spreadbetters signaled a flat start for European shares with FTSE futures FF1c1 off 0.07 percent, while E-Minis for the S&P 500 ESc1 rose 0.3 percent.
MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan .MIAPJ0000PUS dropped 0.3 percent, hitting their weakest in almost three weeks.
The first reading from Japan was tentatively upbeat with its PMI firming to 53.3 in April as output and domestic demand picked up.
MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan rose 0.15 percent.
Spreadbetters expected European stocks to open mixed, with Britain’s FTSE falling 0.35 percent, Germany’s DAX rising 0.02 percent and France’s CAC gaining 0.05 percent.
Global markets were shaken when U.S. President Donald Trump moved to slap tariffs on Chinese goods.
In a sign the equity market sell-off would extend elsewhere, S&P E-Mini futures ESc1 were down 0.1 percent while FTSE futures FFIc1 slipped 0.3 percent.
Japan’s Nikkei led with an increase of 1.3 percent, while Chinese blue chips added 0.7 percent.
Most Asian share markets followed S&P 500 futures lower on Thursday as speculation of faster hikes in U.S interest rates soured risk appetite globally.
Australian stocks were nearly flat and South Korea’s KOSPI gained 0.55 percent. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng rose 1.2 percent.
Asian stocks slipped on Tuesday, while the dollar edged further away from three-year lows.
Asian shares gained on Monday, joining a global recovery for equity markets as sentiment improved gradually from a recent shakeout.
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