The Nikkei rose 2.6% After a string of positive days, the benchmark is on track to mark its first weekly gain in three weeks, according to a WSJ report.The yen was last trading at 109 per U.S. dollar, after touching as strong as 107 this week. A strong yen pressures profits of Japanese companies by making their exports more expensive. Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 climbed 1%, Korea’s Kospi rose 1.3%, and Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index was up 0.9%.
Much of the action centered on the Singapore central bank that surprised traders by lowering its policy band on the Singapore dollar to zero after a round of slower growth in the first quarter. The local dollar fell 0.6% that apparently spilled over into other Asain currencies wiht the Krean wndonw a full percent against the U.S. dollar
In other markets MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan rose 0.3 percent, reaching its highest level since Dec. 2. The index has risen 4.7 percent since Friday, breaking above several resistance levels to signal further gains, Reuters noted.In the overnight U.S. market JP Morgan's first quarter earnings fell but less than expected. And a plan in Europe to bail out Italian banks aided Italian bank shares with a 5 billion euro fund that was in the news earlier.
The WSJ also reported this: J.P. Morgan upgraded its stance on China to overweight from neutral, citing the slower pace of foreign exchange reserves declines, receding fears about yuan devaluation and improving China economic data.With the all the recent happenings surrounding the Fed and it's reversal and Yellen's powwow with Obama and Biden, that makes one wonder if the fix is in when it comes to China, especially until after the election in November.
No comments:
Post a Comment