SYDNEY- Asian shares crept back toward recent peaks on Monday as Chinese markets swung higher, while investors waited to see if the recent sell-off in longer-dated US Treasuries would extend and maybe take some pressure off the beleaguered dollar.
MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan gained 0.5 percent to 565.74, moving nearer to the January top of 574.52.
Chinese blue chips led the way with gains of 2.4 percent, with the country’s central bank providing more medium term loans to the financial system.
Beijing also granted a patent for CanSino Biologics Inc’s COVID-19 vaccine candidate Ad5-nCOV.
Japan’s Nikkei dipped 0.6 percent after touching a six-month peak on Friday, as the country suffered its biggest economic contraction on record in the second quarter.
E-Mini futures for the S&P 500 firmed 0.28 percent to be just below the record close of 3,386.15. EUROSTOXX 50 futures eased 0.1 percent and FTSE futures 0.04 percent.
The US second-quarter earnings season wraps up with the major retailers reporting this week, including Walmart Inc, Home Depot Inc and Kohls Corp.
Sino-US relations remain a sticking point with US President Donald Trump on Saturday saying he could exert pressure on more Chinese companies such as technology giant Alibaba after he moved to ban TikTok.
US crude oil shipments to China will rise sharply in coming weeks, as the world’s two top economies gear up to review their January deal after a prolonged trade war.
News that the scheduled review of the US-China Phase-One trade deal over the weekend had been postponed indefinitely didn’t elicit much of a reaction.
