Asian stocks held firm around a 2-1/2-month peak on Tuesday, a day after USA shares hit a record high thanks to a combination of upbeat US data and expectations of more stimulus around the world. The Nasdaq composite rose 44 points, or 0.9 percent, to 5,001. South Korea’s Kospi gained 1.3 percent.
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The benchmark closed at a record 2,137.16, overtaking the previous high of 2,130.82 hit on May 21, 2015.
Japanese government bonds were mostly down on Tuesday as weak demand at a 30-year auction undermined already shaky sentiment against the backdrop of rebounding equities, though bargain-hunting late in the session brought yields off their highs.
Technology stocks and banks rose more than the rest of the market, while utilities and phone companies, which investors have favored recently for their steady dividends, fell. Boeing rose $1.95, or 1.5 percent, to $132.04 and Citigroup added 31 cents, or 0.7 percent, to $42.29.
PROFIT PICTURE: Aluminum maker Alcoa will report its quarterly earnings after the closing bell.
Japan stocks are soaring, global markets are higher, and the S&P 500 is set to match its longest earnings recession since the 1930s.
“The market is now priced for more than 10 trillion yen, but it will be more about the fiscal-monetary coordination that is driving markets”, said Hans Redeker, head of currency strategy at Morgan Stanley.
Tokyo stocks surged Monday, with a key index rising the most in more than four months, on expectations for expanded fiscal stimulus measures following a landslide victory by the governing coalition in a parliamentary elections and strong United States jobs data. “It’s a virtuous cycle”.
The Ministry of Finance offered 800 billion yen ($7.77 billion) of 30-year JGBs with a 0.30 percent coupon.
While U.S.jobs data on Friday was much stronger than expected, U.S. interest rate futures suggest that many market participants doubt that the Fed will raise interest rates this year, in the wake of Britain’s shock vote last month to leave the European Union.
In other energy trading in NY, wholesale gasoline rose 1 cent to $1.38 a gallon, heating oil was flat at $1.42 a gallon and natural gas dropped 10 cents, or 3.5 percent, to $2.70 percent.
The dollar strengthened to 103.12 yen from 102.82 yen in NY, and well up from 101.70 yen in Tokyo earlier Monday. Brent crude, a standard for global oil prices, lost 51 cents, or 1.1 percent, to $46.25 a barrel in London.
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The euro fell 0.2 percent to US$1.1025 and sterling fell 0.3 percent to US$1.2920 ahead of a Bank of England policy meeting on Thursday, at which some analysts expect the bank to cut interest rates.
