Stocks gain

SINGAPORE/NEW YORK- Asia’s stock markets
rose on Tuesday as another batch of strong
US economic data bolstered the global outlook,
while currency and bond markets paused for
breath after a month of rapid gains in the dollar
and in US Treasury yields.
MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares
outside Japan advanced 0.4 percent to a two-week
high, while Tokyo’s Nikkei loitered just short of a
two-week peak. The Dow and S&P 500 had closed
at record peaks on Monday.
Overnight, on the heels of a bumper jobs report
on Good Friday, March data showed a gauge
of US services activity hit a record high while at
the same time markets are cheering a huge $2
trillion government spending program.
“On aggregate, it’s good for the global economy
and therefore that’s a justification to move into
more cyclical-sensitive FX pairs and to buy stocks
in general,” said Kyle Rodda, market analyst at
brokerage IG in Melbourne.
“Yields haven’t budged much and so tech stocks
have outperformed,” he said. In Asia, chipmakers
pushed Taiwan’s benchmark index up 1 percent
to a record peak and broad gains lifted Australia’s
ASX 200 to a seven-week high.
The Shanghai Composite was steady, while
Hong Kong’s stock market remains closed for
holidays.
European markets, which have been shut since
Thursday’s close, were also poised for gains with
DAX futures up 1.2 percent, EuroSTOXX 50
futures 1 percent higher and FTSE futures up 0.8
percent. S&P 500 futures were steady.
The yield on benchmark 10-year US Treasuries
was steady in New York, and in Asia on Tuesday
it fell two basis points to 1.6860 percent. The
US dollar held at $1.1810 per euro after posting
its steepest drop in several weeks overnight.