Get 40% Off
👀 👁 🧿 All eyes on Biogen, up +4,56% after posting earnings. Our AI picked it in March 2024.
Which stocks will surge next?
Unlock AI-picked Stocks

GLOBAL MARKETS-Asia stocks edge higher, investors cautious on US-China trade talks

Published 2018-05-17, 11:19 p/m
Updated 2018-05-17, 11:20 p/m
© Reuters.  GLOBAL MARKETS-Asia stocks edge higher, investors cautious on US-China trade talks

* MSCI Asia-Pacific index up 0.1 pct, Nikkei rises 0.25 pct

* Markets eye ongoing U.S.-China trade negotiations

* Dollar/yen hits near 4-mth high with US yields at 7-yr peak

* Crude dips back from 2014 high, still poised for big weekly gain

By Shinichi Saoshiro

TOKYO, May 18 (Reuters) - Asian stocks edged up on Friday as investors kept a cautious watch on developments in U.S.-China trade negotiations, with the dollar perched near a five-month peak after the benchmark U.S. Treasury yield hit its highest in seven years.

MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan .MIAPJ0000PUS was 0.1 percent higher. The index was headed for a 1 percent loss this week.

Japan's Nikkei .N225 rose 0.25 percent, South Korea's KOSPI .KS11 was up 0.4 percent and Australian stocks .AXJO dipped 0.15 percent.

Hong Kong's Hang Seng .HSI rose 0.25 percent and Shanghai .SSEC climbed 0.3 percent.

Wall Street ended slightly lower on Thursday as investors grappled with U.S.-China trade tensions after U.S. President Donald Trump said that China "has become very spoiled on trade". helping ease some of the tension, Beijing has offered Trump a package of proposed purchases of American goods and other measures aimed at reducing the U.S. trade deficit with China by some $200 billion a year, U.S. officials familiar with the proposal said. second round of talks between senior Trump administration officials and their Chinese counterparts started on Thursday, focused on cutting China's U.S. trade surplus and improving intellectual property protections.

"President Trump does not do the actual trade negotiations, which are done by officials from both sides," said Kota Hirayama, senior emerging markets economist at SMBC Nikko Securities in Tokyo.

3rd party Ad. Not an offer or recommendation by Investing.com. See disclosure here or remove ads .

"China should be well accustomed to Trump's ways by now. Judging from how the talks are proceeding so far, there is a greater chance of the negotiations ending in some sort of a compromise instead of falling through, and such an outcome would bode well for risk sentiment," he said.

In currencies, the dollar index against a basket of six major currencies .DXY was steady at 93.498 after rising to a five-month peak of 93.632 on Thursday.

The index has gained about 1 percent this week, buoyed by the surge in U.S. Treasury yields, with the 10-year U.S. Treasury note yield US10YT=RR hitting a seven-year peak of 3.128 percent.

The euro was up 0.1 percent at $1.1807 EUR= , but not far off a five-month trough of $1.1763 brushed on Wednesday. The currency has fallen nearly 1.2 percent this week, largely pressured by Italian political uncertainty.

Reports this week that Italian populist parties likely to form the country's next government may ask the European Central Bank for debt forgiveness have raised concerns about Italy abandoning fiscal discipline.

The dollar extended an overnight rally and rose to 110.990 yen JPY= , its highest since late January. The greenback has gained nearly 1.4 percent against its Japanese peer this week.

Emerging market currencies have also lost ground against the dollar this week as the rise in U.S. yields showed little signs of slowing.

The Turkish lira TRYTOM=D3 fell to a record low against the dollar this week, the Brazilian real BRL= plumbed a two-year low while Mexico's peso MXN=D2 has shed more than 5 percent this month.

3rd party Ad. Not an offer or recommendation by Investing.com. See disclosure here or remove ads .

A retreat by Indonesia's rupiah IDR= to a 2-1/2-year low prompted the central bank to tighten monetary policy on Thursday for the first time since 2014 to support the currency. the most unnerving aspect of the recent rupiah weakness has been the sheer speed in which the currency markets have turned against some emerging market countries," wrote Sean Darby, chief global equity strategist at Jefferies.

"However, policy credibility is the most important tool and the fact that the Indonesian central bank has begun to tighten ought to alleviate some of the FX pressures."

In commodities, Brent crude oil futures were 30 cents higher at $79.60 a barrel LCOc1 after rising to $80.50 on Thursday, their highest since November 2014.

Brent has risen 3 percent this week and is headed for a sixth week of gains.

A rapid slide in oil supply from Venezuela, concern that U.S. sanctions will disrupt exports from Iran, and falling global inventories have all combined to push oil prices up nearly 20 percent in 2018. O/R

Inflation concerns, strong U.S. economic indicators and worries over increasing debt supply have pushed Treasury yields higher this week. (Reportijg by Shinichi Saoshiro; Editing by Shri Navaratnam and Eric Meijer)

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.