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