Asia shares cautiously ahead of US earnings and inflation by Reuters

By Scott Murdoch

HONG KONG (Reuters) – Asian stock markets were cautious on Tuesday after US markets weakened as investors expected the start of the corporate earnings season and the release of key inflation data to indicate how the global recovery from the pandemic will emerge come.

MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific stocks outside Japan traded less than 0.1% higher early Tuesday.

In Australia, the S & P / ASX200 scored 10 points to 6983.90 early in the session, up 0.9%. Technical stocks boosted earnings in Australian stocks, while the country’s largest miners showed signs of weakness.

In early trade, Hong Kong increased by 0.6%, while the CSI300 index on the mainland CSI300 was 0.3% higher than the trade figures published in March.

South Korea’s index was 0.5% higher.

“Volatility has come down in the US markets as we see it trading before the reporting season,” said James Rosenberg, a Baillieu Holst adviser in Sydney.

“With markets generally at record levels, there are expectations that it will be very strong and it certainly does not leave much room for disappointment.”

In the United States, the 55.2 points, or 0.16%, dropped to 33,745.4, the lost 0.81 points, or 0.02%, to 4,127.99 and the declining 50.19 points, or 0.36 %, to 13,850.00.

Eric Rosengren, president of the Boston Federal Reserve, said Monday that the U.S. economy could see a significant upswing this year due to weakened money and fiscal policy, but the labor market in the country is still weak.

He said that inflation was still below the central bank’s target rate of 2%, that the current ‘highly accommodating’ stance on monetary policy remained appropriate.

US inflation data for March should be published on Tuesday.

The standard yield for ten years was 1.6782%, which was lower than a 14-month high of 1.776% reached on 30 March. It traded between 1.6835% and 1.6427% during the US session.