Asian shares up as U.S. infrastructure bill lifts S&P to a record
Asian shares rose on Friday, tracking gains on Wall Street overnight that lifted the Nasdaq and the S&P 500 indexes to record highs after U.S. President Joe Biden embraced a bipartisan Senate infrastructure deal.
Investors have been looking to an infrastructure agreement to extend the recovery in the world’s largest economy after massive fiscal stimulus helped the U.S. economy grow at a 6.4% annualized rate in the first quarter. read more
In morning trade, MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan (.MIAPJ0000PUS) climbed 0.58%.
“The positive market tone recognizes the potential growth benefits of the compromise, but with the smaller size tempering some of the tax implications to pay for it,” said Kerry Craig, global market strategist at J.P. Morgan Asset Management.
Securing bipartisan agreement on the deal required Biden to sacrifice some of his original ambitions on schools, climate change mitigation, and support for parents and caregivers, as well as tax increases on the rich and corporations. read more
“We continue to expect progress on further fiscal stimulus in the months to come and the larger size of those packages will likely necessitate rising taxes, especially if they come via the U.S. Congressional budget reconciliation process rather than partisan support,” said Craig.
Chinese blue-chips (.CSI300) rose 0.43%, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng (.HSI) added 0.61%, Seoul’s Kospi (.KS11) was up 0.79% and Australian shares (.AXJO) climbed 0.22%. Japan’s Nikkei (.N225) rose 0.59%.
Asian stocks rebounded after falling earlier in the week amid concerns of earlier-than-expected policy tightening by the U.S. Federal Reserve, after it signalled higher rates in 2023 last week.
“The reality remains that the timing of any tapering scare, or indeed tapering, is most likely to be driven by market-driven inflation expectations. And the pressure on this front has eased of late,” Christopher Wood, global head of equity strategy at Jefferies, said in a note.
Overnight, the S&P 500 (.SPX) gained 0.58% and the Nasdaq Composite (.IXIC) added 0.69%, lifting both indexes to record high closes. The Dow Jones Industrial Average (.DJI) rose 0.95%.
In the currency market, the dollar index was down about 0.1% at 91.762 as investors continued to mull over the likelihood of Fed tightening in the face of persistent inflation.
The Japanese yen was slightly weaker at 110.90 and the euro edged up 0.08% to $1.1940.
Benchmark 10-year U.S. Treasuries , which saw yields dip after Biden’s announcement of an infrastructure bill were last at 1.497%, up from a close of 1.487% on Thursday.
Yields on the 30-year bond rose to 2.1062% from 2.095% on Thursday.
Oil prices climbed to near three-year highs, supported by drawdowns in U.S. inventories and accelerating German economic activity, with U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude rising 0.29% to $73.51 per barrel and global benchmark Brent crude at $75.77, up 0.28% on the day.
Spot gold was up 0.11% at $1,777.07 an ounce.
