Asian Stock Market: Ignores geopolitical, vaccine jitters to track Wall Street gains
- Asian stocks print mild gains, Pacific major lead the run-up as markets await the Fed.
- US diplomats call for closer ties with Japan, take sides with AU but North Korea, China cast shadows on optimism.
- RBA minutes, second-tier data from Australia and New Zealand fail to entertain traders.
Asian shares stay positive as US diplomats’ first visit to the region brings optimism towards closer ties in the future. However, market optimism remains guarded as China and North Korea reject welcoming the Biden administration and the coronavirus (COVID-19) vaccine optimism fades.
Against this backdrop, MSCI’s index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan rises 0.45% intraday whereas Japan’s Nikkei 225 adds 0.57% to flash 29,940 as a quote during the pre-European trading on Tuesday.
New Zealand’s (NZ) NZX 50 leads the run-up with 1.30% gains as traders eye upbeat NZ Q4 GDP on Thursday despite downbeat Credit Card Spending. Australia’s ASX 200 follows its kiwi counterpart with near 1.0% intraday upside as RBA minutes suggest extended easy money policies. Australian markets also gained support from US President Joe Biden’s Indo-Pacific Coordinator, Kurt Campbell, as he defends Canberra from Beijing’s ‘economic coercion’, as Reuters puts it.
Elsewhere, markets in China, South Korea, India and Indonesia follow the suit amid a lack of major catalyst at home. In doing so, these indices ignore North Korea’s clear warning to the US over closer ties with South Korea and military drills near the hermit kingdom’s borders.
On a broader front, S&P 500 Futures struggle for a clear direction near the record top while the US 10-year Treasury yield drops 1.5 basis points (bps) to revisit the sub-1.6% area.
Moving on, US Retail Sales and further upside from US diplomats’ Asia-Pacific visit could direct global market moves. Though, Wednesday’s Fed will be the key event to watch.
Also read: US Retail Sales February Preview: Will the real consumer please stand up?