Asian shares drift higher, pound eases on YouGov poll

Asian shares extended earlier gains on Wednesday, although advances were patchy ahead of key central bank meetings while the pound wobbled as opinion polls pointed to a tight UK election later this week.

Asian Shares

  • MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan rose 0.5% higher.
  • Hong Kong’s Hang Seng and Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 led gains with 0.7% rises.
  • Shanghai blue chips rose 0.2%.
  • Japan’s Nikkei was unchanged.
  • Futures pointed to flat open in Europe and on Wall Street.

Bonds

  • The yield on benchmark 10-year Treasury notes, which moves inversely to price, last stood a little higher at 1.8364%.

Currency Markets

  • The kiwi dollar drifted 0.3% lower to $0.6526 as the government trimmed its growth forecasts and announced a long-term fiscal spending program.
  • The biggest mover among major currencies was the pound, which shed 0.3% to hit $1.3128 after a closely watched YouGov poll showed the ruling Conservatives tracking toward a much slimmer majority than forecast a fortnight ago.

Commodities

  • U.S. crude dipped 0.5% to $58.92 a barrel
  • Gold was steady at $1464.80 per ounce.
Source: Investing.com

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