- Asia-Pacific equities remain firmer amid cautious optimism over Ukraine-Russia crisis, relief from China’s covid fears.
- Hang Seng rises over 2.0% as Chinese tech shares consolidate recent losses.
- Optimism among Japanese manufacturers propels Nikkei 225, oil recovers as well.
- Fed’s action, geopolitics will be crucial for near-term directions.
Asia-Pacific equities stay on the front foot during early Wednesday as easing covid woes in China helped the shares to track Wall Street’s gains.
Technology stocks in China are the major gainer while Hong Kong’s Hang Seng leads Asia-Pacific bulls with over 2.0% daily upside as Reuters mentions, “China reports 1,952 new coronavirus cases on March 15 versus 3,602 a day earlier.”
Elsewhere, MSCI’s Asia-Pacific shares ex-Japan rises 1.4% whereas Japan’s Nikkei 225 adds over 1.5% by the press time. Earlier in Asia, the Reuters Tankan poll showed that Japanese manufacturers' business confidence improved for the first time in three months in March.
It’s worth noting that Australia’s ASX 200 and New Zealand’s NZX 50 follow gains in China whereas Indonesia’s IDX and South Korea’s KOSPI also didn’t disappoint the regional mood. Further. India’s BSE Sensex is up around 1.5% at the latest amid hopes that the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) will step back from faster monetary policy tightening.
On a broader front, S&P 500 Futures drop 0.18% to 4,257 whereas the US 10-year Treasury yields snap seven-day uptrend around the highest levels since June 2019, down 1.8 basis points (bps) to 2.145% at the latest.
Looking forward, the US Retail Sales for February, expected to ease to 0.4% from 3.8% prior, will join risk catalysts and oil moves will help the global investors to find a clear path.
Read: The Yuan will not replace the US dollar, nor will it be backed by commodities
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