Hong Kong, Oct. 19 (BNA): Asian stocks rose on Tuesday, buoyed by a tech-driven Wall Street rally and a rebound in Chinese markets after a day of weak data heightened investor fears about the world’s second-largest economy.
The dollar came under pressure as weak US factory data dampened expectations for any near-term interest rate increases.
MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan rose 0.76% on Tuesday. Reuters reported that it is up about 5% since its lowest level in 12 months on October 5, which is broadly in line with a similar rally in global stocks after the strong opening of the earnings season in the United States.
However, the Asian index is still far from its level in late July, when a series of regulatory changes in China turbulent markets. Japan’s Nikkei rose 0.56%.
“Asian markets have generally been following Wall Street and continuing to recover – except for concerns about the growth of the Chinese economy that are hurting market performance,” said Edison Bohn, chief market analyst at Saxo Markets.
Chinese blue chips reversed early losses to rise 0.62% on Tuesday, the day they fell 1.1% when China reported slower GDP growth in the third quarter.
There were also gains in Hong Kong up 1.21%, Australia up 0.2%, and South Korea 0.63% higher.
US stock futures, the S&P 500 e-minis, were up 0.08%.
Overnight, the S&P 500 rose 0.34% and the Nasdaq ended 0.84 while the Dow was down 0.1% on weak factory data.
Shares of Apple, Facebook and Microsoft were among the biggest boosters to the S&P 500.
In the currency markets, the dollar settled near the bottom of its latest range against its major peers on Tuesday, weighed by weak US factory data overnight and by market bets from faster monetary policy normalization in other countries.
“Any slippage should be modest,” Westpac analysts said, as US Federal Reserve officials continued to indicate a strong preference to go ahead with the November stimulus tape announcement.
The dollar index fell 0.13% and was last at 93.83 near its lowest level this month, losing ground against the pound and the euro, although it held its position against the yen.
US Treasuries took their breath away in early Asia. Overnight, five-year bond yields soared to their highest levels since early 2020 as traders were in a position to raise expected interest rates from the central bank.
Oil prices retreated from multi-year highs on Monday, also due to lower factory data, which dampened demand expectations, but higher prices remain a concern for energy importing countries.
Brent crude lost 0.42 percent to 83.97 barrels, and US crude lost 0.24 percent to 82.24 barrels.
Gold rose slightly with spot up 0.2% to $1,767.9 an ounce, although the metal remained within its recent range.
HF