Asia stocks bounce as soaring dollar pauses

Singapore, Apr. 18 (BNA): Asian stocks made their biggest gains in a month on Thursday, while the dollar paused, and bond markets steadied as investors stepped back to assess the interest rate outlook.

 

Oil found support following its sharpest fall in two-and-a-half months, Reuters reported.

 

MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan, rose 1%, led by a 2% gain in South Korea’s Kospi and a 1% rise in Hong Kong’s Hang Seng. All those indexes are down for the week and for the month so far.

 

Japan’s Nikkei rose 0.3%, though its drop of 3.6% for the week was its biggest weekly fall since 2022.

 

S&P 500 futures bounced 0.4%, Nasdaq 100 futures rose 0.5%, FTSE futures rose 0.3% while European futures were flat.

 

The dollar has eased from recent highs and news of an unusual trilateral agreement between the U.S., Japan and Korea to consult closely on foreign exchange intervention to slow any further dollar gains in Asia.

 

U.S. short-term interest rate expectations were little changed but selling of longer-dated bonds fell, and Asia’s bond markets rallied on Thursday.

 

Ten-year Japanese government bond yields fell 2 basis points to 0.86%.

 

Ten-year Treasury yields fell 1.6 bps to 4.569% and two-year Treasury yields, which touched 5% on Thursday, were last at 4.92%.

 

Taiwanese chipmaker TSMC turned in a positive surprise, beating market estimates with a 9% rise in profit as it rides a wave of artificial intelligence-led demand. It expects business to pick up in the second half and the result contrasted with Wednesday’s disappointing earnings from chipmaking supplier ASML.

 

 

FG