SINGAPORE — Asian stocks were mostly higher on Thursday as dovish comments from Federal Reserve officials and a smooth auction of Japanese super-long debt eased investor jitters in bond markets.
Shares rose in Australia, India and Japan, but Chinese shares fell the most since April on reports of regulatory intervention to tame runaway speculation.
MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japa, gave up early gains and was down 0.2 percent, dragged lower by losses in China.
The CSI 300fell as much as 2.6 percent and was on track for a third day of declines after Bloomberg News said financial regulators were preparing cooling measures for the market.
US stock futures rose 0.1 percent as investors took heart Fed officials’ comments and the 30-year Japanese government bond auction went off smoothly, drawing buyers into beaten-down equities.
Australian shares advanced 1 percent, recovering from their biggest one-day sell-off since April, while the Nikkei 225 rose 1.6 percent.
“We got one or two days of weakness but the dip-buyers have stepped in,” said Tony Sycamore, market analyst at IG in Sydney.
“Many people are looking for this weakness in September to be a buying opportunity,” with economic growth still resilient, he added. “This is a good backdrop for equities.”
India’s benchmark Sensex was up 1.1 percent as markets opened, after the government slashed levies on several goods to fire up consumption and counteract US tariffs.
Financial markets started September in a downbeat mood, with a sell-off in longer-dated bonds dousing investor confidence ahead of critical US non-farm payrolls on Friday.
Overnight, the selloff in bond markets slowed, but concerns about the fiscal health of major economies from Japan and the United States to Britain kept long-dated borrowing costs pinned near multi-year highs.
Investors got a timely boost to sentiment after Federal Reserve officials, including Governor Christopher Waller, expressed support for rate cuts in coming months.
