- Asian equities stay depressed as Treasury yields remain strong.
- Aussie data, vaccine optimism fails to defy reflation fears.
- Powell’s speech, US stimulus headlines and job-related data will be the key.
Asian shares follow their Western counterparts while flashing losses during early Wednesday. The risks got sold off during late Tuesday after expectations of more fund inflow and lack of fears among the central bankers propel Treasury yields.
Read: Wall Street Close: US stocks drop as rising yields weigh on Tech/growth names
While portraying the mood, MSCI’s index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan drops 2.0% whereas Japan’s Nikkei 225 drops 2.5% by press time. It’s worth mentioning that policymakers in Japan are up for extending virus-led emergencies in Tokyo for two-more weeks amid fears of the coronavirus (COVID-19) variants. Though, the same gains mixed response from the markets as some, per an analytical piece from Bloomberg, considered it as a precautionary measure to avoid future problems.
Australia’s is down 1.3% even as January’s trade numbers superseded soft Aussie Retail Sales for the said month. In doing so, the Aussie shares also ignore Australian PM Scott Morrison’s optimism to have vaccine rollout by Friday.
New Zealand’s NZX 50 also ignored comments from RBNZ Governor Adrian Orr who tried to placate bond bears. Further, Chinese shares were also over 1.5% down on an average even as their Securities Journal tried to follow the ECB’s footsteps and rule out market fears.
South Korea’s KOSPI was also in the same line while failing to cheer upbeat Q4 GDP and Consumer Price Index data whereas Indonesia’s IDX Composite and India’s BSE Sensex followed the market suit without any major catalysts at home.
On a broader front, S&P 500 Futures couldn’t defy Wall Street’s losses even as chatters concerning the vaccines and US stimulus tried battling the bond bears. That said, the US 10-year Treasury yields rise 1.3 basis points near 1.48% by press time.
Read: S&P 500 Futures drop towards 3,800 as reflation fears return to the table ahead of Fed’s Powell
Moving on, investors will be interested in confirming the reflation fears from Fed’s Powell, failing to do so can trigger market consolidation ahead of Friday’s US NFP.
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