Asian markets traded higher on Tuesday following marginal gains on Wall Street and after China strengthened support for its struggling property market. The benchmark indices in Japan and South Korea opened higher, while the US stock futures were little changed.
Asian markets traded higher on Tuesday following marginal gains on Wall Street and after China strengthened support for its struggling property market. The benchmark indices in Japan and South Korea opened higher, while the US stock futures were little changed.
Sentiment improved after Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. reported better than expected sales, while Chinese regulators increased pressure on financial institutions to ease terms for property companies by encouraging negotiations to extend outstanding loans, Bloomberg reported.
Sentiment improved after Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. reported better than expected sales, while Chinese regulators increased pressure on financial institutions to ease terms for property companies by encouraging negotiations to extend outstanding loans, Bloomberg reported.
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In the US, investors remained cautious ahead of the US consumer prices report to be released Wednesday which could clear up the interest rate outlook. Most analysts expect the US Federal Reserve to increase interest rates by 25 basis points this month.
Meanwhile, several Fed officials said additional interest rate hikes are needed to bring down inflation that is still too high, but the end to the US central bank’s current monetary policy tightening cycle is getting close, Reuters reported.
Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index futures traded around 162 points higher at 18,642.
Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 rose 0.22%
Meanwhile, Gift Nifty was trading 25 points, or 0.13%, higher at 19,481.50, indicating a positive start for the broader Indian index.
Wall Street
US stocks edged higher marginally as investors awaited inflation data, due to be released on Wednesday.
The S&P 500 gained 3.89 points, or 0.09%, at 4,402.84. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 167.86 points, or 0.5%, at 33,902.74. The Nasdaq Composite added 4.30 points, or 0.03%, at 13,665.01.
Among stocks, heavyweights such as Apple, Microsoft and others declined after Nasdaq Inc announced the rebalance of its Nasdaq 100 index to address the benchmark’s “overconcentration.”
Apple shares fell 1.1% with its market capitalization at $2.967 trillion, while shares of Alphabet and Amazon plunged over 2%. Microsoft and Tesla share prices dropped more than 1% each.
Meanwhile, Intel shares surged 2.6% and Qualcomm gained 1.3% after US treasury secretary Janet Yellen said over the weekend that meetings with senior Chinese officials were direct and productive.
Europe
European shares rose led by gains in the travel & leisure sector stocks. The pan-European STOXX 600 index ended 0.2% higher.
Britain’s FTSE 100 gained 0.2% at 7,273.79, while Germany’s DAX rose 0.5% at 15,673.16. France’s CAC 40 added 0.5% at 7,143.69.
Among shares, Wihlborgs Fastigheter fell 7.8% after the Swedish real estate firm reported its first-half results.
Energy
Crude oil price rose after Chinese measures to aid its property market improved the demand outlook.
Brent futures rose 0.50% to $78.08 a barrel, while US West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude gained 0.55% to $73.39 a barrel.
Currencies
The dollar weakened after Federal Reserve officials signalled that the central bank was nearing the end of its tightening cycle, Reuters reported.
The US dollar index fell to a two-month low of 101.88 against a basket of currencies in early Asia trade.
Sterling hit a fresh 15-month high of $1.2869, while the euro tacked on 0.03% to $1.1004. The Japanese yen rose to a near one-month high of 141.15 per dollar on Tuesday and last bought 141.43 per dollar.
The Australian dollar gained 0.16% to $0.6687, while the New Zealand dollar added 0.06% to $0.6216.
The Chinese yuan was last marginally higher at 7.2254 per dollar in the offshore market.
(With inputs from Reuters)
