Black Friday is Now! Don’t miss out on up to 60% OFF InvestingProCLAIM SALE

GLOBAL MARKETS-Asian shares slip but economic optimism keeps world shares near record high

Published 30/04/2021, 12:33 pm
© Reuters.
EUR/USD
-
USD/JPY
-
USD/CAD
-
US500
-
JP225
-
AMZN
-
LCO
-
CL
-
IXIC
-
US10YT=X
-
MIAPJ0000PUS
-
CSI300
-
MIWD00000PUS
-

* MSCI ACWI near record high after strong U.S. data

* China, Japan stocks dip ahead of long holiday

* Amazon up after the bell on stellar earnings

* Global asset performance http://tmsnrt.rs/2yaDPgn

* World FX rates http://tmsnrt.rs/2egbfVh

By Hideyuki Sano

TOKYO, April 30 (Reuters) - Asian shares slipped on Friday but world stocks held near a record high after strong U.S. economic data and the Federal Reserve's commitment to continue supporting the economy fuelled investors' appetite for risk.

MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan .MIAPJ0000PUS dropped 0.5% with both Japan and China falling ahead of a long weekend. Both markets will be closed through Wednesday.

Japan's Nikkei .N225 fell 0.4% while China's CSI 300 .CSI300 lost 0.5% in early trade.

MSCI's broadest gauge of world stocks covering 50 markets, ACWI .MIWD00000PUS , was little changed, a day after it hit a historic high, extending its monthly gains to 5.1%.

On Wall Street, the S&P 500 .SPX also closed at an all-time high while the Nasdaq Composite .IXIC hit a intraday record before paring some gains.

For both ACWI and S&P500, analysts are now expecting the earnings in the next 12 months to recover to above their pre-pandemic levels.

Amazon AMZN.O reported stellar results late on Thursday, lifting its shares by 2.4% in an after-hours trade. on Thursday also showed U.S. economic growth accelerated in the first quarter, fuelled by massive government aid to households and businesses. York City aims to "fully reopen" on July 1 after more than a year of closures and capacity restrictions, Mayor Bill de Blasio said, buttressing hopes for recovery in the battered service sector. Chair Jerome Powell said on Wednesday that "it is not time yet" to begin discussing any change in policy after the U.S. central bank left interest rates and its bond-buying programme unchanged, despite taking a more optimistic view of the country's economic recovery. 10-year U.S. Treasury yield rose to 1.690%, its highest in more than two weeks, and last stood at 1.641% US10YT=RR .

"For now we are likely to see strong economic data from the U.S. and that means we need to be wary of further rise in U.S. bond yields, and the dollar/yen," said Toshiya Nakamura, chief manager of forex trading at Mitsubishi Trust Bank.

In the currency market, the yen was listless at 108.72 per dollar JPY= , having hit a two-week low of 109.22 as higher U.S. bond yields helped the dollar.

The positive risk mood saw the euro extending its bull run to a two-month high of $1.2150 in the previous session and it last stood at $1.2117 EUR= . With 3.3% gains so far this month, it is on course for its biggest monthly rise in 9 months.

The Canadian dollar extended its gains to a three-year high of C$1.22715 per U.S. unit CAD=D4 , boosted by the Bank of Canada's tapering of its bond-buying programme and higher commodities including oil and lumber.

Oil prices held near six-week highs as strong U.S. economic data, a weak dollar and an expected recovery in demand outweighed concerns about higher COVID-19 cases in Brazil and India.

Brent LCOc1 slipped 0.4% to $68.30 per barrel in Asia, after having hit a high of $68.95 on Thursday while U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) eased 0.3% to $64.80 per barrel CLc1 .

"Strong U.S. data is supporting the market. But on the other hand, given that oil producers have capacities to boost outputs further, there will be resistances around $65 for WTI and $70 for Brent," said Tatsufumi Okoshi, senior commodity strategist at Nomura Securities.

<^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ World FX rates YTD

http://tmsnrt.rs/2egbfVh Global asset performance

http://tmsnrt.rs/2yaDPgn

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^> (Editing by Ana Nicolaci da Costa)

Latest comments

Risk Disclosure: Trading in financial instruments and/or cryptocurrencies involves high risks including the risk of losing some, or all, of your investment amount, and may not be suitable for all investors. Prices of cryptocurrencies are extremely volatile and may be affected by external factors such as financial, regulatory or political events. Trading on margin increases the financial risks.
Before deciding to trade in financial instrument or cryptocurrencies you should be fully informed of the risks and costs associated with trading the financial markets, carefully consider your investment objectives, level of experience, and risk appetite, and seek professional advice where needed.
Fusion Media would like to remind you that the data contained in this website is not necessarily real-time nor accurate. The data and prices on the website are not necessarily provided by any market or exchange, but may be provided by market makers, and so prices may not be accurate and may differ from the actual price at any given market, meaning prices are indicative and not appropriate for trading purposes. Fusion Media and any provider of the data contained in this website will not accept liability for any loss or damage as a result of your trading, or your reliance on the information contained within this website.
It is prohibited to use, store, reproduce, display, modify, transmit or distribute the data contained in this website without the explicit prior written permission of Fusion Media and/or the data provider. All intellectual property rights are reserved by the providers and/or the exchange providing the data contained in this website.
Fusion Media may be compensated by the advertisers that appear on the website, based on your interaction with the advertisements or advertisers.
© 2007-2024 - Fusion Media Limited. All Rights Reserved.