HONG KONG (Reuters) – Asian stock markets were generally positive on Tuesday after China’s exports grew at a strong pace in March and imports rebounded, prompting investors that domestic demand is improving as part of the pandemic recovery.
MSCI’s broader Asia-Pacific stock index outside of Japan traded up 0.4% on Tuesday after opening less than 0.1%.
In Australia, the S & P / ASX200 changed the regional trend and was flat, while the Japanese Nikkei rose 1.1% in the afternoon session.
Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index added nearly 1%, while the continental CSI300 bluechip index rose 0.5% and consolidated after the March trade figures were released.
South Korea’s KOSPI 200 index doubled first gains to 1%.
China’s exports in dollars rose 30.6% in March from the previous year, while imports rose 38.1% compared to the same period last year, according to the figures released Tuesday.
Imports grew at the fastest pace in four years, according to analysts who indicated a post-pandemic recovery in Chinese domestic demand.
China is benefiting from its strong recovery “first and foremost”, but the world economy is also accelerating and recovering, which will slow down part of China’s export performance in the following quarters said John Woods, Credit Suisse’s chief Asia-Pacific investor. official.
Trading data helped reverse a weaker tone that was previously evident in Asia after the falls on Wall Street overnight.
In the United States, the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 55.2 points, or 0.16%, to 33,745.4, the S&P 500 lost 0.81 points, or 0.02%, to 4,127.99, and the Nasdaq Composite fell 50.19 points, or 0.36%, to 13,850.00.
Boston Federal Reserve Bank President Eric Rosengren said Monday that the U.S. economy could experience a significant rebound this year due to weaker financial policy and fiscal policy, but the country’s labor market he was still with weaknesses.
He said that with inflation still below the central bank’s 2% target rate, the current “highly accommodative” monetary policy stance remained adequate.
Data on US inflation for March will be released later on World Day.
The dollar rose nearly a three-week low against major rivals on Tuesday, driven by a sharp rise in Treasury yields as traders expected the long-awaited inflation data.
Sat Duhra, Singapore-based portfolio manager at Janus Henderson Investors, said he expected inflation rates to be temporary and that there would be a long period of steady growth and low inflation, following a rapid rise in the pandemic. . It also expects the rotation of growth stocks and momentum to others based on value to persist.
“The difference between equity yields and bond yields is still respectable and very interesting,” Duhra said.
“The gap in valuations between stocks of growth and value is so large that there is still a way to continue. It’s not a rotation just for that.”
The 10-year benchmark yield stood at 1.6943% in the Asian session, staying below the 14-month high of 1.776% reached on March 30th.
Scott Murdoch reports in Hong Kong; Edited by Stephen Coates and Simon Cameron-Moore