SINGAPORE : Asian shares wobbled in cautious trade on Tuesday, while the dollar was firm ahead of a series of data releases and central bank meetings that begins with the Reserve Bank of Australia later in the day.
The overnight sale of First Republic Bank’s assets to JPMorgan Chase resolved the third U.S. bank failure in two months. Treasury yields rose in response and expectations firmed to near certain for one final U.S. rate hike this week.
JPMorgan shares rose 2.1 per cent. The S&P 500 closed flat and ANZ analysts said markets’ relief was evident.
MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan wriggled either side of flat, and was last down 0.2 per cent after tech and casino gains in Hong Kong proved shortlived.
Mainland China markets were closed. Japan’s Nikkei hit a 16-month high, before backing off slightly, with the bank sector a drag.
Hundreds of thousands of Chinese visitors hit Macau’s casinos last weekend for the Labour Day holiday, and overnight MGM Resorts international reported better-than-expected revenues and called out strong volumes in Las Vegas and Macau.
The yen, meanwhile, steadied after two sessions of heavy falls following the Bank of Japan’s decision on Friday to stick with ultra-easy monetary policy for the time being.
The policy stands in contrast to the U.S. and Europe where central banks are deep into a hiking cycle and still going.
The yen fell through its 200-day moving average on Tuesday and hit an almost two-month low on the dollar early on Wednesday before steadying at 137.40.
The Japanese currency made a fresh 14-1/2 trough at 151.08 per euro on Wednesday and is trading at its lowest recorded on the Swiss franc in Refinitiv data stretching back to the early 1980s. The euro held at $1.0987.
Source: Reuters
