DM Monitoring
SYDNEY: Asian share markets lagged on Thursday as U.S. stock futures nudged to another record high after the Federal Reserve underlined its commitment to keeping policy super loose even as the economy enjoys a rapid recovery.
MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan was flat, and also little changed on the week. Japan’s Nikkei eased 0.3% and Chinese blue chips 0.1%, with trading very subdued.
The outperformance of the U.S. economy helped S&P 500 futures add 0.3% to a new peak, while Nasdaq futures gained 0.4%. EUROSTOXX 50 futures firmed 0.2% and FTSE futures 0.3%. Minutes of the Federal Reserve’s last policy meeting showed members felt the economy was still far short of target and were in no rush to scale back their $120 billion a month of bond buying.
Fed Chairman Jerome Powell speaks at an IMF event later on Thursday and is likely to reiterate the dovish outlook. “This discussion is consistent with our view that it will be later this year before the Fed starts talking about talking about tapering, with actual changes to the purchase pace not occurring until Q1 2022,” said analysts at JPMorgan. “Fed officials generally viewed the recent rise in longer-term Treasury yields as reflecting an improving outlook and some firming of inflation expectations, and not a risk to the outlook.”
Yields on 10-year Treasuries have since eased back a little to 1.667%, from the recent 14-month top of 1.776%, but have struggled to break under 1.59%.
The pullback coincided with a dip in the dollar index to 92.444, from its recent five-month high at 93.439. The dollar was likewise holding at 109.78 yen, having faded from its recent one-year peak of 110.96.
The euro was steady at $1.1868, after reaching as high as $1.1914 overnight following a surprisingly upbeat survey of European Union business activity.
