Asian Equities Higher Led by China

Asian stocks climbed, the yen slid to an almost eight-month low and bonds in the region tracked Treasuries lower amid signs of strength in the U.S. economy. Chinese shares jumped after gauges of services activity rebounded, while crude oil rallied.

The MSCI Asia Pacific Index rose 0.5 percent by 11:43 a.m. in Tokyo, as Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index advanced 1 percent. Standard & Poor’s 500 Index futures were little changed after the benchmark U.S. index slipped 0.1 percent from a record. The yen dropped to as low as 105.27 per dollar, the weakest level since Jan. 10. Yields on 10-year Australian debt added nine basis points. Oil in New York rebounded 0.4 percent and gold climbed from the lowest level since June.

U.S. factory output grew in August at the fastest pace in three years, underlining the economy’s divergence with Europe and China, where gauges of manufacturing this week dropped more than analysts projected. A private gauge of non-manufacturing activity in China jumped the most on record after its lowest-ever reading last month. Japan and the euro area see service-industry data today, before the European Central Bank and the Bank of Japan update monetary policy tomorrow amid speculation over the outlook for stimulus.

Bloomberg

Content is for general information purposes only. It is not investment advice or a solution to buy or sell securities. Opinions are the authors; not necessarily that of OANDA Business Information & Services, Inc. or any of its affiliates, subsidiaries, officers or directors. If you would like to reproduce or redistribute any of the content found on MarketPulse, an award winning forex, commodities and global indices analysis and news site service produced by OANDA Business Information & Services, Inc., please access the RSS feed or contact us at info@marketpulse.com. Visit https://www.marketpulse.com/ to find out more about the beat of the global markets. © 2023 OANDA Business Information & Services Inc.