Morning bid: Powered up on Powell, yen still on the brink
By Jamie McGeever
(Reuters) — A look at the day ahead in Asian markets.
Asian markets open on Thursday in the slipstream of U.S. markets' positive reaction to the Federal Reserve's signal that interest rates will still be cut by 75 basis points this year, and not the 50 that many investors had been bracing for.
Wall Street's three main indexes closed between 0.9% and 1.2% higher on Wednesday, Treasury yields fell and the dollar slipped, a mix that should point to early gains in Asia.
This comes against a global backdrop of high asset prices, strong risk appetite and low volatility — global stocks are near record levels, FX vol is the lowest since September 2021, and U.S. high yield bond spreads are the tightest in over two years.
Stacked up like that, however, maybe the upside is limited from here — the MSCI Asia ex-Japan index has shed around 2.5% in the past week.
While the 2024 path for U.S. monetary policy is the biggest immediate driver for Asian markets, the regional economic calendar on Thursday is not without potential fireworks.
Fourth-quarter GDP data from New Zealand, unemployment figures from Australia, trade numbers from Japan and a sprinkling of PMI reports are on tap too.
Once again, all eyes will be on the yen, which remains on the slide following the Bank of Japan's historic rate hike and policy shift this week.
The Japanese currency is its weakest ever against the offshore Chinese yuan, its lowest against the onshore yuan in over 30 years, a 16-year high against the euro and a whisker away from lows not seen against the dollar since 1990.
The yen managed to claw back some of its losses late in U.S. trading on Wednesday as the dollar fell more broadly. Activity on Thursday promises to be frenetic as
Read more on investing.com
