Tuesday 26th March: Asian markets higher after Monday’s fall.

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Global Markets:

  • Asian Stock Markets : Nikkei up 2.15%, Shanghai Composite down 1.75%, Hang Seng down 0.28%, ASX up 0.07%
  • Commodities : Gold at $1325.15 (-0.29%), Silver at $15.50 (-0.44%), Brent Oil at $66.97 (+0.24%), WTI Oil at $59.22 (+0.68%)
  • Rates : US 10-year yield at 2.430, UK 10-year yield at 0.973, Germany 10-year yield at -0.015

News & Data:

  • (NZD) Trade Balance 12M vs -200M expected
  • (EUR) German Ifo Business Climate 99.6 vs 98.7 expected
  • Japan’s finance minister defends comments on BOJ inflation goal
  • Xi, Macron agree to forge more solid, stable, vibrant China-France partnership

Markets Update:

Asian stock markets, led by Japan, are mostly higher on Tuesday, recovering from sharp losses in the previous session despite the mixed cues from Wall Street amid lingering worries about global economic growth. Crude oil prices rose to above $59 a barrel and the Japanese yen also weakened against the U.S. dollar.

Following its Monday tumble, the Nikkei 225 rose 2.2 percent in afternoon trade, with shares of robot maker and index heavyweight Fanuc gaining 1.44 percent. The Topix index also added 2.6 percent. Mainland Chinese shares were lower by the afternoon, with the Shanghai composite slipping 1.8 percent and the Shenzhen component declining 2.3 percent.

In Hong Kong, the Hang Seng index fell 0.3 percent. Over in South Korea, the Kospi was 0.2 percent higher. Shares of Samsung Electronics slipped more than 0.6 percent after the company issued a warning on its first-quarter earnings. Meanwhile, shares in Australia rose as the ASX 200 gained 0.1 percent.

Fed funds rate futures are now fully factoring in a rate cut later this year, with about an 80 percent chance of a move priced in by September. In the currency market, the fall in U.S. yields undermined the dollar’s yield attraction.

Oil prices hovered below their recent four-month peaks, as the prospect of tighter U.S. crude supply was offset by concerns about a slowdown in global economic growth.

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