Asian markets rise as dollar gains

AFP, HONG KONG:  Asian markets largely rose yesterday on the back of a stronger US dollar and investor optimism over President Donald Trump’s long anticipated tax cuts. Bourses across the region, including the major indexes in Tokyo and Hong Kong, tracked an upward swing on Wall Street after a slew of solid US corporate earnings reports and progress on Trump’s tax reform plan. The dollar shot up after the European Central Bank (ECB) announced Thursday that it would soon begin to cut back its monetary stimulus programme.

“That US dollar surge at a time of solid global growth expectations is going to be good for (Asia)... as the depreciation it speaks to for many Asian currencies will improve their competitiveness,” said Greg McKenna, chief market strategist at AxiTrader.

Tokyo rose 1.2 per cent, bolstered by the yen’s weakness against the dollar, a positive for Japanese exporters as it makes their products more competitive abroad and inflates their repatriated profits.

“Japanese stocks look bullish,” Hiroyasu Iida, head of the investment research center at Aizawa Securities in Tokyo, told Bloomberg News.

“Both in the US and Japan, companies will likely continue to have better earnings results. Good earnings results, the yen’s weakness and speculation over foreign investors’ purchases are fuelling expectations over further gains in stocks.”

Among the gainers, Toyota rose 0.6 per cent while Sony went up 0.2 percent.

But Subaru fell 2.6 per cent on local media reports that uncertified employees have been inspecting vehicles at a domestic factory before they were shipped to dealers. The company declined to comment on the reports, saying an in-house probe was underway.

Eurozone stocks rally

Hong Kong gained 0.8 percent, as the stock exchange’s red-carpeted trading floor closed, having ceded its historic role to electronic and internet dealing.

Seoul was up 0.6 per cent while Singapore rose 0.7 percent. But Sydney edged down 0.2 percent.

Thursday’s ECB announcement that it would halve its purchases of government and corporate bonds to 30 billion euros ($35 billion) a month sent Eurozone equities soaring.

The advance continued on Friday in early trade with London edging up 0.4 per cent while Paris added 0.6 per cent and Frankfurt climbed 0.7 per cent. On Wall Street, the blue-chip Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 0.3 per cent Thursday following solid earnings reports including from Ford and UPS as well as congressional progress on Trump’s tax cut plan. The president’s proposed measures narrowly passed a hurdle in the House of Representatives, which approved a budget resolution that paves the way for debate on his plan for $1.5 trillion in tax cuts.

Asian markets rise as dollar gains

AFP, HONG KONG: Asian markets largely rose yesterday on the back of a stronger US dollar and investor optimism over President Donald Trumps long anticipated tax cuts. Bourses across the region, including the major indexes in Tokyo and Hong Kong, tracked an upward swing on Wall Street after a slew of solid US corporate earnings reports and progress on Trumps tax reform plan. The dollar shot up after the European Central Bank (ECB) announced Thursday that it would soon begin to cut back its monetary stimulus programme. That US dollar surge at a time of solid global growth expectations is going to be good for (Asia)... as the depreciation it speaks to for many Asian currencies will improve their competitiveness, said Greg McKenna, chief market strategist at AxiTrader. Tokyo rose 1.2 per cent, bolstered by the yens weakness against the dollar, a positive for Japanese exporters as it makes their products more competitive abroad and inflates their repatriated profits. Japanese stocks look bullish, Hiroyasu Iida, head of the investment research center at Aizawa Securities in Tokyo, told Bloomberg News. Both in the US and Japan, companies will likely continue to have better earnings results. Good earnings results, the yens weakness and speculation over foreign investors purchases are fuelling expectations over further gains in stocks. Among the gainers, Toyota rose 0.6 per cent while Sony went up 0.2 percent. But Subaru fell 2.6 per cent on local media reports that uncertified employees have been inspecting vehicles at a domestic factory before they were shipped to dealers. The company declined to comment on the reports, saying an in-house probe was underway. Eurozone stocks rally Hong Kong gained 0.8 percent, as the stock exchanges red-carpeted trading floor closed, having ceded its historic role to electronic and internet dealing. Seoul was up 0.6 per cent while Singapore rose 0.7 percent. But Sydney edged down 0.2 percent. Thursdays ECB announcement that it would halve its purchases of government and corporate bonds to 30 billion euros ($35 billion) a month sent Eurozone equities soaring. The advance continued on Friday in early trade with London edging up 0.4 per cent while Paris added 0.6 per cent and Frankfurt climbed 0.7 per cent. On Wall Street, the blue-chip Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 0.3 per cent Thursday following solid earnings reports including from Ford and UPS as well as congressional progress on Trumps tax cut plan. The presidents proposed measures narrowly passed a hurdle in the House of Representatives, which approved a budget resolution that paves the way for debate on his plan for $1.5 trillion in tax cuts.