SHANGHAI- Asian shares edged up to near three-month highs on Wednesday and global equities held steady near a record as data showing higher US manufacturing activity in May cheered investors looking for signs of a continued rebound in the world’s largest economy.
US manufacturing activity rose in May, the Institute for Supply Management (ISM) said on Tuesday, as pent-up demand boosted orders in a reopening economy, even as unfinished work piled up because of shortages of raw materials and labor.
Investors will be watching US jobs data due Friday for clues to the Fed’s plans for policy in the coming weeks and months.
Carlos Casanova, senior Asia economist at Union BancairePrivee in Hong Kong, said reopening expectations had overtaken concerns about inflation.
“Yes, inflation will overshoot in the short term but the Fed is cognizant of that risk and they are looking at a dual target of full employment and inflation. So that has made investors less concerned potentially about the pace of Fed tapering this year, focusing more on the pace of reopening this year (and ) leaving that concern about tapering for next year or beyond,” he said.
MSCI’s gauge of stocks across the globe was flat after setting a record intraday high and close on Tuesday. Its broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan ticked 0.08 percent higher, and Japan’s Nikkei added 0.36 percent.
Seoul’s Kospi gained 0.36 percent and Australian shares rose 0.64 percent.
Chinese blue-chips lagged as healthcare firms dropped a day after the sector was lifted by China’s announcement of a third-child policy.
On Tuesday, US stocks pared earlier gains following the ISM manufacturing data as investors mulled over the rebound and higher inflation.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.13 percent to 34,575.31, the S&P 500 lost 0.05 percent to 4,202.04 and the Nasdaq Composite ticked down 0.09 percent to 13,736.48. — Reuters
