The dollar weakened against most of its Group-of-10 counterparts and Japanese stocks climbed amid subdued trading yesterday, with many major centres in Asia closed for Lunar New Year celebrations.
The Topix index jumped more than 1 percent while Australian shares inched higher. US equity futures were marginally lower after a surge on Friday, when the S&P 500 Index rose for the first time in four days and the tech-heavy Nasdaq 100 saw the biggest one-day gain since November, thanks in part to gains by Google parent Alphabet and Netflix. Contracts for European stocks climbed. Treasuries were little changed in Asia while bond yields moved higher in Australia and New Zealand, tracking moves in the US debt market on Friday.
Japan’s benchmark 10-year yield fell one-and-a-half basis points to 0,385 percent, well below the 0,5 percent ceiling set by policy makers, after the Bank of Japan said it would provide ¥1 trillion yen (US$7,7 billion) of collateralised loans for banks in a bid to limit a rise in rates. The yen reversed earlier gains against the greenback.
“The Bank of Japan will continue to be that central bank that stands on its own and tries to almost sing its own tune,” Katrina Ell, an economist at Moody’s Analytics Inc., said on Bloomberg Television. “ — Bloomberg.
