NEW YORK (Reuters) – Asian equities would rise on Wednesday, rebounding from strong sell-offs on Tuesday, while Australian equities began to open weaker after a Tuesday holiday.
Higher markets in Europe and a slight drop in record stock levels in the United States suggested overnight that investors be wary of possible roadblocks to a US stimulus plan and ahead of a Federal Reserve policy announcement.
Looking at the Australian inflation figures available later Wednesday, said Steven Daghlian, a CommSec market analyst in Sydney, who noted that both equities and the Aussie dollar were a tear. ‘Aussie shares peaked at 11 months on Monday,’ close to the level ahead of COVID, ‘he said.
The US Federal Reserve will announce its two-day policy meeting on Wednesday. Analysts expect the Fed to stick to its pigeon tone to speed up the economic recovery.
The U.S. stimulus talks are in focus, with U.S. Senate leader Chuck Schumer saying the Democrats will continue with President Joe Biden’s relief plan, without Republican support, if necessary.
European equities rose on Tuesday as the strong earnings of wealth manager UBS and auto parts maker Autoliv added to a series of upbeat corporate updates, while the International Monetary Fund boosted its forecast for global growth in 2021.
U.S. Treasury yields were mostly lower overnight in the awkward trade, after earlier reaching three-week lows at the longest end of the curve, as investors were wary of the size of a proposed U.S. stimulus package.
The ten-year norm notes yielded 1.033%, compared to 1.04% late Tuesday.
Australian S & P / ASX 200 futures lost 0.25% in early trading.
The Japanese Nikkei 225 futures contract added 0.07%, while the Nikkei 225 index closed the overnight session%. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index futures rose 0.68%.
E-mini futures contracts for the S&P 500 increased by 0.21%.
The Australian dollar rose 0.05% against the dollar to $ 0.775.
The US dollar has declined across the board as traders have a preference for riskier currencies. The dollar index fell 0.194%, with the euro up 0.02% to $ 1.2162.
The Japanese yen weakened 0.01% against the greenback at 103.61 per dollar, while Sterling last traded at $ 1.3735, up 0.01% on the day.
Reporting by Alwyn Scott; Edited by Lisa Shumaker