Asian stocks bounced from a 3-1/2-month low on Wednesday as a slight softening in rhetoric from U.S. President Donald Trump helped ease worries about the U.S.-China tariff war and on expectations Beijing could release more economic stimulus.
Asian Stocks
“Chinese stocks are mounting a rebound as they had been oversold in recent sessions. Sentiment is also better as President Trump seems to be desiring a compromise,” said Kota Hirayama, senior emerging markets economist at SMBC Nikko Securities in Tokyo.
- MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan gained 0.5%.
- The Shanghai Composite Index advanced 1%.
- Australian stocks added 0.6%.
- South Korea’s KOSPI gained 0.7%
- Japan’s Nikkei dipped 0.1%.
Currency
A slim majority of economists polled by Reuters expects the central bank to keep rates at a record low although calls for a rate cut have grown louder after disappointingly weak first-quarter inflation.
- The Chinese yuan was a shade firmer at 6.9005 per dollar in offshore trade
- The dollar was steady at 109.615 yen
- The euro was unchanged at $1.1204.
- The dollar index against a basket of six major currencies was nearly flat at 97.530 after gaining 0.2% the previous day.
Commodities
In commodity markets, oil prices remained a relatively tight range.
- U.S. crude futures were down 0.55% at $61.44 per barrel
- Brent crude lost 0.18% to $71.11 per barrel.