Morning Report
Tuesday, 24 July 2018
- Asian markets were mixed on Tuesday, with the Nikkei 225 paring some of its overnight losses.
- U.S. stocks were narrowly mixed, but the technology sector rose to an all-time high as earnings season rolled on.
- U.S. Treasury yields rose, tracking volatility seen in the Japanese government bond market during the Asian session on Monday.
Asian stocks were mixed in early Tuesday trade after gains in U.S. technology shares drove the sector to a record stateside high while investors kept an eye on bond yields after overnight moves.
Japan’s Nikkei 225 advanced 0.41 percent, around 92 points, recovering slightly after the index closed down by more than 300 points on Monday. In South Korea, the Kospi drifted lower by 0.12 percent as markets examined recent corporate results. The S&P/ASX 200 tacked on 0.5 percent as its health care subindex led gains in the morning.
The S&P 500 tech sector added 0.5 percent and closed at an all-time high, with the broader S&P 500 ending the day up 0.18 percent at 2,806.98. The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite closed higher by 0.28 percent at 7,841.87.
Also of note was the rise in U.S. Treasury yields, which tracked volatility seen in the Japanese government bond market on Monday. The yield on the 10-year U.S. Treasury note rose around 7 basis points to stand at 2.96 percent after the yield on the 10-year Japanese note climbed to its highest level since February on Monday.
In currencies, the dollar retraced some of its recent losses amid the move higher in U.S. Treasury yields. The dollar index, which tracks the U.S. currency against a basket of peers, edged up to last stand at 94.643. PBOC sets USD/ CNY central rate at 6.7891 vs. yesterday at 6.7593. CNY set at its weakest since 11 July of last year … so at its lowest for more than a year. This Chinese approach is escalation of currency war and is a negative for risk.
Source : Reuters
