Asian shares rise as investors eye end to Fed hikes, China stimulus

Hong Kong, July 11 (BNA): Asian stocks rose and the safe-haven dollar fell on Tuesday as investors hoped US inflation data this week would support an imminent end to rate hikes and cheered the prospect of China providing an economic stimulus to support a slowdown. growth.

Markets await US inflation data due on Wednesday to see if price pressures continue to moderate, which could provide clues to the interest rate outlook.

European markets braced for a higher open, with Eurozone Stoxx 50 futures up 0.26%, German DAX futures up 0.37%, and FTSE futures down 0.02%, Reuters reported.

In Asia, MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific stocks outside Japan rose 1.6%, while US stock futures, the S&P 500 e-minis, rose 0.07%.

Investors were digesting comments from several Federal Reserve officials on Monday who said that while additional interest rate hikes are needed to bring down inflation, the end of the central bank’s current monetary tightening cycle is nearing.

“US CPI will come into focus, with associated event risks likely to increase,” ANZ analysts said in a note.

Australian shares rose 1.23%, while Japan’s Nikkei rose 0.14%.

China’s CSI300 Super Index rose 0.63% in afternoon trade. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng advanced 1.75%.

Data showing a sharper-than-expected decline in Chinese producer prices on Monday suggested that “the country’s post-COVID recovery has run out of steam” but added to expectations that “policy makers may need to do more to support demand.” Analysts.

Chinese regulators on Monday extended some of the policies in a bailout package introduced in November to shore up liquidity in the beleaguered real estate sector.

Analysts said that while the expanded policy could ease short-term financial pressure on real estate developers and ensure completion of their home projects, new measures are needed to address the sector’s liquidity crunch.

Ting Lu, chief China economist at Nomura, writes that the current measures are “unlikely to sufficiently stimulate home purchases and rescue the real estate sector.” “Beijing may need to take more action to stop the downward spiral.”

ZH