Asian stocks edged up on Thursday, cheered by record closes in Wall Street benchmarks after encouraging economic data, and after China announced a cut in tariffs on some imported goods from the United States.
Asian Stocks
- MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan gained 1.3per cent.
- Japan’s Nikkei rose 2.47per cent.
- Mainland Chinese shares also reacted positively, with the bluechip CSI300 index up 0.97per cent.
- U.S. stock futures rose 0.5per cent while China’s onshore yuan rose 0.2per cent to its strongest level since Jan. 23 after the tariff cuts were announced.
Bonds
- The 10-year U.S. Treasuries yield rose back to 1.672per cent from a five-month low of 1.503per cent set last Friday.
Currency Markets
- The yuan gained 0.2per cent to 6.9600 per dollar in onshore trade.
- The Australian dollar rose 0.2per cent to US$0.6758.
- The safe-haven yen stepped back to 109.94 yen , compared with a three-week high of 108.305 hit on Friday.
- The euro stood flat at US$1.0998.
Commodities
In commodities, U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude gained 2.17per cent to US$51.85 per barrel, extending its rebound from a 13-month low of US$49.31 touched on Tuesday.
