Stocks in Asia Rise as Dollar Fluctuates; Oil Dips: Markets Wrap

Brendano McDermido („Reuters“ / „Scanpix“) nuotr.

Asian stocks climbed Tuesday, extending a gradual recovery after declines in recent weeks stoked by concerns about the vulnerabilities of emerging-markets in the face of higher U.S. yields, a stronger dollar and costlier energy prices.

The dollar was steady and benchmark 10-year Treasury yields remained below 3 percent, though some developing markets still struggled -- Indonesia’s rupiah tumbled to its weakest since 2015, and its government bonds slumped. The Jakarta Composite Index had the biggest decline among the region’s equity benchmarks. Stocks in Japan advanced along with those in Australia and Hong Kong. FTSE 100 Index futures gained. West Texas Intermediate oil retreated below $70 a barrel after reaching the highest since 2014.

Oil is set to remain in focus amid speculation the U.S. may pull out of a nuclear accord with Iran, escalating tensions in the Middle East and potentially disrupting supplies from that OPEC producer. President Donald Trump is scheduled to announce his decision on Tuesday. Key allies including Germany, France and the U.K. have opposed the withdrawal.

Back in emerging markets, while Turkey’s lira and its equities retreated Monday, Argentina’s peso seemed to stabilize following a tumultuous week of unscheduled central bank interest-rate increases.

Some key events coming up this week:

Australia releases its annual budget on Tuesday. Malaysia holds a general election Wednesday. Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe hosts South Korean President Moon Jae-in and Chinese Premier Li Keqiang on Wednesday. There’s a Bank of England policy decision on Thursday. U.S. inflation data for April is due the same day. Trump’s Iran-deal deadline is this week. Some of the company earnings due include Walt Disney, Petrobras, Marriott, Toyota, Ambev and Deutsche Telekom.And these are the main moves in markets:

Stocks

The MSCI Asia Pacific Index increased 0.6 percent as of 3 p.m. Tokyo time. Topix index advanced 0.4 percent. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index increased 1.5 percent. Kospi index fell 0.3 percent. Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 Index rose less than 0.1 percent. Jakarta Composite Index slid 2.1 percent. FTSE 100 Index futures rose less than 0.1 percent as of 7:05 a.m. in London. Futures on the S&P 500 Index were little changed after the underlying gauge rose 0.4 percent Monday.

Currencies

The Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index was little changed. The Japanese yen traded at 109.03 per dollar. The euro was steady at $1.1922. The pound rose less than 0.1 percent to $1.3562.

Bonds

The yield on 10-year Treasuries rose less than one basis point to 2.95 percent. Japan’s 10-year yield climbed less than one basis point to 0.045 percent. Australia’s 10-year yield fell two basis points to 2.74 percent. Germany’s 10-year bund yield was steady at 0.54 percent.Commodities

West Texas Intermediate crude fell 0.9 percent to $70.07 a barrel. Gold lost 0.1 percent to $1,312.62 an ounce. LME copper rose 0.5 percent to $6,859.00 per metric ton.

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