On Thursday Asian Indices start trade with cautious note, Stuck in range after rise a multi-day rally as markets anticipation more news on U.S.-China trade talks that have raised hopes of a deal to avert an all-out trade war.
MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan was a tad lower, trading not far off a near four-week high.
Australian shares were down 0.14%, while Japan’s Nikkei eased 1.55%.
Wall Street’s S&P 500 rose 0.41% on Wednesday, extending its gains from 20-month lows touched around Christmas to more than 10%.
Delegations from China and the United States ended three days of trade talks in Beijing on Wednesday in the first face-to-face negotiations since both sides agreed a 90-day truce in a trade war that has disrupted the flow of hundreds of billions of dollars of goods.
Oil also caught investors’ attention after U.S. crude and Brent jumped overnight, helped by optimism over easing Sino-U.S. trade tensions, while OPEC-led crude output cuts also provided support. U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude futures on Wednesday gained almost 5.2%, while Brent crude futures were up more than 4.6%. The sharp gains extended a rally that has pushed futures up about 14% this year.
U.S. Treasury yields last stood at 2.696%, down from 2.710% at the U.S. close on Wednesday.
Dovish Fed minutes and positive developments out from the U.S.-China trade talks will likely keep the risk rally going although some market players may opt to book gains and to wait for fresh leads.
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