Marketmind: Pivot party rolls on
By Jamie McGeever
(Reuters) — A look at the day ahead in Asian markets.
Asian markets are set to end the week on the front foot as another steep slide in the dollar and U.S. bond yields extends the Fed-fueled buying frenzy, although some investors may be tempted to take some chips off the table ahead of the weekend.
The Dow climbed to a fresh all-time high on Thursday and the S&P 500 and Nasdaq made new 2023 highs, while the MSCI emerging market and Asia ex-Japan indexes both rose around 2%.
Unless the MSCI World index slumps around 2.5% on Friday it will chalk up its seventh weekly rise in a row, its best run in six years.
That should provide enough momentum to keep Asia in the green on Friday, although a batch of Chinese economic indicators and central bank decision on one-year lending rates could knock markets off course.
The latest Chinese retail sales, industrial production, business investment, unemployment and house price data for November will be released, and investors will be looking for signs of growth or, in some cases, accelerating growth.
China's central bank, meanwhile, is expected to keep its one-year lending rate steady but increase liquidity injections.
But sentiment around China's economy and markets is bleak, and it will take more than a few data points to lift meaningfully. The underperformance of Chinese stocks is the main reason Asian markets have lagged their U.S. and global peers.
Since the last week of October, in which time U.S. and global indexes have jumped 15% or more, the MSCI emerging and Asia ex-Japan indexes have risen 10%.
The Chinese blue chip CSI 300 index is in the red, down 13% this year, and is near a five-year low.
The bullish narrative global markets are running with, however, is
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