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Asia Markets: Asia Stocks mixed amid lingering global growth; US treasury yields ‘volatile’ 

On Wednesday, Stocks in Asia were mixed as investor concerns over the lingering global economy.

The Nikkei 225 in Japan finished at 21,378.73 having declined 0.23% as shares of Nissan dropped 3.5%. The Topix index also closed at 1,609.49 falling 0.52%.

In South Korea, the Kospi dropped 0.15% to close at 2,145.62, as shares of Samsung Electronics- an industrial heavyweight recovered from an earlier drop to rise 0.22%. The rise came after a Tuesday announcement that its first-quarter earnings would likely fall below expectations.

Meanwhile, the ASX 200 in Australia had a slight rise to close at 6,136.00.

Lynas shares rose 1.9% after the company rejected a takeover bid by the conglomerate Wesfarmers. As a result, the Wesfarmers shares gained 0.71%.

Also, the mainland Chinese markets gained with the Shanghai composite tallying 0.85% to close at 3,022.72. The Shenzhen component rose 1.01% to finish its trading day at 9,609.44. Its composite gained 0.899% to close at 1,654.69.

In the final hour of trading, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index added about 0.6%.

“The global growth and data concerns that drove the downside moves over the last few days are still with investors and us will be looking for fresh reasons for the market to rally further over the next few sessions,” analysts from Rakuten Securities Australia said in a note.

They added that the benchmark 10-year Treasury yield was still looking “relatively volatile” despite steadying overnight.

Overnight on Wall Street, the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 140.90 points to close at 25,657.73. The S&P 500 finished its trading day higher by 0.7% at 2,818.46 – its first gain in three sessions. The Nasdaq Composite added 0.7% to close at 7,691.52.

Investors see a yield-curve inversion as a signal that a recession may be on the horizon. Therefore, a rise in long-term rates is being viewed as a positive right now. That came amid the release of weak economic data from the U.S. and around the world as well as a downgraded U.S. economic outlook from the Federal Reserve.

Asia Markets: Dollar rises as more central banks turn dovish, defies lower Treasury yields 

On Thursday, the dollar rose as many of its peers weakened after more central banks opted to shift to a dovish policy stance in the wake of deteriorating economic prospects.

On Wednesday, the Reserve Bank of New Zealand (RBNZ) stunned markets saying there’s likelihood the next move in rates to be down. RBNZ joined a growing list of central banks that had turned dovish.

The dollar index against a basket of six major currencies was 0.17% higher at 96.942 and headed for its third day of gains.

With many of its peers going on the defensive, the USD has been able to brush aside a decline by benchmark U.S. Treasury yields to 15-month lows.

“Treasury yields are indeed lower. But this isn’t impacting the dollar very much as Treasury yields are still at attractive levels relative to those in the eurozone and now New Zealand, which has just turned dovish,” said Takuya Kanda, general manager at Gaitame.Com Research Institute.

The New Zealand dollar was down 0.2% at $0.6786, stretching losses from the previous day’s 1.6% slide.

The Australian dollar, which often moves in sympathy with the kiwi, slipped 0.1% to $0.7077. The Reserve Bank of Australia had last month abandoned its long-held tightening bias, and markets there are pricing in a cut this year.

On Wednesday, the Aussie had shed nearly 0.7% along with the plummeting kiwi.

The dollar slipped 0.15% to 110.34 yen but managed to stay clear of a six-week trough of 109.70 plumbed on Monday.

The 10-year U.S. Treasury note yield slipped to 2.342%, its lowest since December 2017 on worries about a global recession and after the RBNZ embraced a dovish tone on interest rates.



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