Asian stocks staged a strong rally today on optimism over US-China trade talks. In particular, Trump hinted that he’s willing to let the March 1 trade truce deadline slip, even though he doesn’t prefer it. Yen and Dollar are trading as the weakest ones for today because of that. Euro follows as third weakest. Australian Dollar rises across the board naturally on risk appetite. But it’s overwhelmed by New Zealand Dollar, which was boosted by less dovish than expected RBNZ statement. For now, at least RBNZ doesn’t hint at a rate cut. Focus will now turn to CPI from UK and then US.
In Asia:
- Nikkei closed up 1.34%.
- Hong Kong HSI is up 1.20%.
- China Shanghai SSE is up 1.56%, back above 2700 handle.
- Singapore Strait Times is also up 1.21%.
- Japan 10-year JGB yield is up 0.0083 at -0.002, still negative.
Overnight:
- DOW rose 1.49%.
- S&P 500 rose 1.29%.
- NASDQ rose 1.46%.
- 10-year yield rose 0.023 to 2.684.
- 30-year yield rose 0.023 to 3.022, back above 3% handle.
