HONG KONG- Asian share markets were broadly positive while the dollar was slightly weaker on Thursday, with investors nervously awaiting the US Federal Reserve’s annual Jackson Hole conference for clues on how sharp future interest rate hikes might be.
MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan edged up 0.3 percent, after US stocks ended the previous session with mild gains.
Australian shares climbed 0.7 percent, while Japan’s Nikkei stock index rose 0.52 percentand China’s CSI300 advanced 0.27 percent.
The Federal Reserve’s annual monetary policy conference in Jackson Hole, Wyoming is due to start on Friday.
Investors now expect the Fed Funds rate to peak at 3.80 percent in March 2023, up from 3.62 percent a fortnight ago, said Tapas Strickland, NAB’s economics director.
“Market moves at least are consistent with the hawkish pushback seen by Fed officials over recent weeks,” he added.
Interest rate futures imply a 60 percent chance of a 75 basis point Fed hike in September, up from 50 percent earlier this week.
In early Asian trade, the yield on benchmark 10-year Treasury notes rose to 3.1095 percent compared with its US close of 3.106 percent on Wednesday.
The two-year yield, which rises with traders’ expectations of higher Fed fund rates, touched 3.4028 percent compared with a US close of 3.386 percent.
The yields had also made gains overnight, though that did not stop US equity markets rising on Wednesday.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed up 0.18 percent, the S&P 500 gained 0.29 percent and the Nasdaq Composite advanced 0.41 percent. — Reuters