(Bloomberg) — Asian stocks gained on Tuesday as the dollar slipped before a swath of inflation prints that’s expected to influence the direction of global monetary policy.
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The MSCI AC Asia Pacific index rose, with stocks in Hong Kong, South Korea and Taiwan higher. Markets in Japan and Australia were slightly down. S&P 500 futures rose after US and UK markets were closed on Monday.
Chinese property shares advanced after Shanghai lowered down-payment ratios and the minimum mortgage threshold, as bigger Chinese cities follow through on the central government’s aid for the property sector. Tech stocks in China gained as major Chinese state banks said they will put a combined 114 billion yuan ($15.7 billion) into a semiconductor investment fund.
The dollar retreated for a third day and was down against all Group-of-10 peers as investors mull prospects of US interest-rate cuts. Australia’s currency outperformed. The 10-year Treasury yield remained steady.
“Upbeat risk tone weighed on the USD and supported the AUD,” Peter Dragicevich, APAC currency strategist at Corpay, wrote in a note. “If we are right in our assessment that the US core PCE deflator moderates, the China PMIs improve, and/or statistical quirks see euro-zone inflation re-accelerate, we believe the USD could lose ground later in the week.”
Traders will this week be studying fresh inflation data from Australia to Japan, the euro region and the US. Bank of Japan Governor Kazuo Ueda and his deputy indicated there is scope for gradually raising interest rates now that the nation has shifted away from an inflation norm of 0%. Japan’s April producer prices beat estimates, jumping 2.8% from a year earlier.
“Things will pick up tonight when the US opens, and then I suspect the next few days, all else being equal, will be driven by end-of-month flows and then that crucial PCE Index release,” said Kyle Rodda, a senior market analyst at Capital.Com Inc. “All we are seeing is the usual tidal currents in the market when there’s nothing much going on and no one is really…
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