SINGAPORE, April 24 (Reuters) - Asian stocks rose on
Wednesday, tracking Wall Street, as an after-hours surge in
shares of EV maker Tesla following its promise of new
models, and upbeat earnings from some U.S. companies lifted risk
sentiment.
The yen was rooted near 34-year lows, keeping traders wary
of possible intervention from Tokyo.
MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan
gained 1.55%, having climbed 1% on Tuesday, as
stocks rebounded from last week's steep selloff. Japan's Nikkei
surged 2%.
China stocks were mixed, with the blue-chip index
flat, while Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index added 1.6%.
Tesla kicked off the earnings season for U.S. tech megacaps,
announcing the launch of new electric vehicle models that sent
its shares up 12% in extended trading.
U.S. stocks closed higher on Tuesday as companies such as
automaker General Motors ( GM ) reported strong earnings. E-mini
futures for the S&P 500 rose 0.27%.
The earnings-packed week includes results from tech giants
Meta Platforms ( META ), Alphabet and Microsoft ( MSFT )
, and will likely set the tone for the near term.
"Expectations are also set for upcoming earnings from major
U.S. tech companies like Meta, potentially maintaining a
positive atmosphere in the tech sector ahead of these releases,"
said Anderson Alves, a trader with ActivTrades.
Beyond corporate earnings, traders are focused on the U.S.
gross domestic product figures and the March personal
consumption expenditure data - the Fed's preferred inflation
gauge - due later this week to gauge the path of U.S. rates.
Markets are now pricing in September to be when the Federal
Reserve would deliver its first rate cut, with expectations of
43 basis points of cuts this year. At the start of the year,
traders had priced in 150 bps of easing for the whole year.
The drastic shift has elevated Treasury yields and lifted
the dollar in the past few weeks but on Wednesday they were
subdued following data that showed U.S. business activity cooled
in April to a four-month low due to weaker demand, while rates
of inflation eased slightly even as input prices rose sharply.
"The surprisingly soft PMI numbers suggest the US economy
will lose some momentum in the second quarter," said Tony
Sycamore, a market strategist at IG.
The yield on 10-year Treasury notes was at
4.613% on Wednesday, having dipped to as low as 4.568% on
Tuesday following the economic data.
The dollar index, which measures the U.S. currency
against six peers, eased 0.066% to 105.60 after a 0.424% drop on
Tuesday.
YEN IN INTERVENTION ZONE
The Japanese yen was last at 154.79 per dollar,
not far from the 34-year low of 154.88 it touched on Tuesday
ahead of the Bank of Japan's two-day policy meeting that
concludes on Friday.
The dollar/yen pair, which is extremely sensitive to U.S.
yields, has traded in an extremely narrow range, with traders
wary that a push above 155 could raise the risk of
dollar-selling intervention by Japanese officials.
Japanese Finance Minister Shunichi Suzuki issued on Tuesday
the strongest warning to date on the chances of intervention,
saying last week's meeting with U.S. and South Korean
counterparts had laid the groundwork for Tokyo to act against
excessive yen moves.
The United States, Japan and South Korea agreed to "consult
closely" on foreign exchange markets in their first trilateral
finance dialogue last week, acknowledging concerns from Tokyo
and Seoul over their currencies' recent sharp declines.
Japan last intervened in the currency market in 2022, first
in September and again in October, to prop up the yen.
IG's Sycamore said if the U.S. core PCE inflation is hotter
than expected, "the market will quickly take advantage of the
supportive yield backdrop and push the pair towards 156.00".
U.S. crude fell 0.1% to $83.28 per barrel and Brent
was at $88.31, down 0.12% on the day. Oil prices gained
on Tuesday as investor focus shifted away from tensions in the
Middle East.
Spot gold dropped 0.2% to $2,317.39 an ounce.