Asian Shares Rise Ahead of Start of FOMC

Asian shares followed Wall Street higher on Wednesday, while short-term U.S. bond yields held near 4 1/2-year highs as investors braced for the possibility of the first interest rate hike in the United States in almost a decade.

Japan’s Nikkei .N225 jumped 1.1 percent while MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan .MIAPJ0000PUS gained 0.4 percent.

U.S. shares rallied over one percent overnight, in part helped by data showing healthy growth in consumer spending though price action is likely to have been exaggerated by low trading volume ahead of the Fed’s policy verdict on Thursday.

U.S. Treasuries yields jumped on Tuesday, with the policy-sensitive two-year yield US2YT=RR rising about 8 basis points to peak at 0.815 percent, its highest level since April 2011.

It last traded at 0.802 percent in early Asian trade.

The 10-year U.S. notes yield stood at 2.272 percent US10YT=RR, having risen to a 1 1/2-month high of 2.293 percent on Tuesday.

Via Reuters

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