Updated :
Thursday June 7 , 2012 1:12:22 PM
Asian shares hit one-week highs on Thursday, and commodity prices and the euro firmed, on signs that Europe was dealing urgently with Spain's banking crisis and that the United States could embark on fresh monetary stimulus.
Dovish comments from a senior U.S. Federal Reserve official and strong Australian jobs data cemented the bullish sentiment, sending the Australian dollar to three-week highs and pulling down safe-haven currencies such as the U.S. dollar and yen.
However, analysts and market players described the rally in shares and other risky assets as a rebound, not a turning point, and said buyers still needed to see genuine progress within the euro zone to tackle the region's worsening debt crisis.
MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan rose 1.8 percent and Japan's Nikkei average advanced 1.1 percent.
Those gains follow climbs for global stocks on Wednesday, with the benchmark Standard & Poor's 500 Index staging a major reversal above its 200-day moving average.
Fed Vice Chair Janet Yellen laid out the case for further easing monetary conditions on Wednesday, saying "it may well be appropriate to insure against adverse shocks".
Earlier, regional Fed officials from Atlanta and San Francisco said they were prepared to take more policy action to boost the erratic U.S. economic recovery - even though 10-year Treasury bonds are already yielding close to all-time lows.
The Fed's Beige Book summary of business activity showed on Wednesday that U.S. economic growth and hiring had picked up over the past two months - a contrast with last week's weak jobs data for May which sparked a sell-off across global markets.
Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke is due to testify on the U.S. economy before a congressional committee later on Thursday, and investors will be watching closely for any clues over policy ahead of the Fed's June 19-20 policy meeting.
The dollar index, measured against a basket of major currencies, eased 0.1 percent while the euro steadied around $1.2570, moving away from Friday's low of $1.2288, its lowest in nearly two years.
The yen traded 0.2 percent lower against the dollar at 79.36 yen. U.S. Treasuries, another safe haven, also eased in U.S. trade, pushing up their yields, but Treasury futures ticked up after Yellen's comments on possible further stimulus.
Asian shares hit one-week highs on Thursday, and commodity prices and the euro firmed, on signs that Europe was dealing urgently with Spain's banking crisis and that the United States could embark on fresh monetary stimulus.
Dovish comments from a senior U.S. Federal Reserve official and strong Australian jobs data cemented the bullish sentiment, sending the Australian dollar to three-week highs and pulling down safe-haven currencies such as the U.S. dollar and yen.
However, analysts and market players described the rally in shares and other risky assets as a rebound, not a turning point, and said buyers still needed to see genuine progress within the euro zone to tackle the region's worsening debt crisis.
MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan rose 1.8 percent and Japan's Nikkei average advanced 1.1 percent.
Those gains follow climbs for global stocks on Wednesday, with the benchmark Standard & Poor's 500 Index staging a major reversal above its 200-day moving average.
Fed Vice Chair Janet Yellen laid out the case for further easing monetary conditions on Wednesday, saying "it may well be appropriate to insure against adverse shocks".
Earlier, regional Fed officials from Atlanta and San Francisco said they were prepared to take more policy action to boost the erratic U.S. economic recovery - even though 10-year Treasury bonds are already yielding close to all-time lows.
The Fed's Beige Book summary of business activity showed on Wednesday that U.S. economic growth and hiring had picked up over the past two months - a contrast with last week's weak jobs data for May which sparked a sell-off across global markets.
Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke is due to testify on the U.S. economy before a congressional committee later on Thursday, and investors will be watching closely for any clues over policy ahead of the Fed's June 19-20 policy meeting.
The dollar index, measured against a basket of major currencies, eased 0.1 percent while the euro steadied around $1.2570, moving away from Friday's low of $1.2288, its lowest in nearly two years.
The yen traded 0.2 percent lower against the dollar at 79.36 yen. U.S. Treasuries, another safe haven, also eased in U.S. trade, pushing up their yields, but Treasury futures ticked up after Yellen's comments on possible further stimulus.
No comments:
Post a Comment