HONG KONG (Reuters) - Asian shares advanced on Wednesday, with tech stocks mainly catching a lift following an intense session on Wall Street, while U.S. Treasury yields held near multi-year highs ahead of closely watched inflation data this week.
Investors across asset classes are devoting considerable thought to the pace and timing of interest rate hikes by central banks across the world.
Barring any big surprises, the consumer price index should cement expectations the U.S. Federal Reserve will raise interest rates next month, with a strong print offering further support to those tipping a more significant 50 basis point rise.
MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan added 1% to its highest in two weeks, helped by a 3% gain in Hong Kong-listed tech stocks.
Japan's Nikkei gained 0.9%.
All three main Wall Street indexes closed higher with tech stocks, including Apple Inc (NASDAQ: AAPL) and Microsoft Corp (NASDAQ: MSFT) jumping, as did bank stocks supported by the prospect of higher U.S. interest rates. [.N]
Nonetheless, the Nasdaq Composite is still down 9.2% this year after a brutal January.
Manishi Raychaudhuri, the Asia-Pacific equity strategist at BNP Paribas (O.T.C.:BNPQY), said market volatility was lingering as investors figured out how often, how far and how fast central banks would raise interest rates.
"The overarching theme for the market is central banks' monetary policies," he said. "I think volatilities will continue and will possibly increase...but over the longer-term corporate balance sheets, particularly in Asian emerging markets, look a lot better than they were earlier," he said.
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Elsewhere in the Asia Pacific, gains in tech names helped Korea's KOSPI rise 0.8%, and Commonwealth Bank of Australia (O.T.C.:CMWAY), the country's largest bank, gained 5% after announcing A $2 billion share buyback.
Gains in Hong Kong financials and tech stocks meant the local benchmark rose 2%, unfazed by tighter restrictions to combat a new wave of COVID-19.
E-mini futures for the S&P 500 rose 0.23%.
However, focusing on U.S. inflation figures due Thursday is likely to cap further gains.
"Even though we sit in Asia, markets are still eagerly waiting for the Thursday C.P.I. print out of the U.S. so are sitting on their hands right now," said Marcella Chow, Hong Kong-based global market strategist at JPMorgan (NYSE: J.P.M.) Asset Management.
"The market is currently expecting January's C.P.I. to be 7.3% versus 7% in December, and if it comes in higher than expected we could see 10 year yields go higher and even reach 2%, and push a value rotation," she added.
U.S. Treasury yields held firm in Asian trading after touching multi-year highs the day before, as did yields in the eurozone. Higher yields typically cause investors to move out of so-called growth stocks, mainly technology names, into value stocks.
The yield on 10-year Treasury notes was 1.9559%, having hit 1.97% on Tuesday, its highest since Nov 2019, and the two-year was 1.3435%, just below its highest since March 2020. [US/]
The 10-year Japanese government bond yield in Asia rose one basis point to 0.215%, its highest since January 2016.
Currency markets were pretty quiet, though the dollar touched a one-month high against the yen, as the gainU.S.S. yields outpace those in Japan. [F.R.X./]
The dollar index, which measures the greenback against six peers, was steady at 95.536.
Oil regained some ground after falling earlier in the week due to optimism around talks with Iran, leading to a possible rise in supply.
Brent crude futures rose 0.3%, to $91.01 a barrel, whilU.S.S. crude was at $89.47 a barrel, up 0.1%. [O/R/]
Spot gold was steady at $1826 per ounce. [G.O.L./]
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