Asian Stock Market: Consolidates recent losses amid firmer Treasury yields

• Asian equities recover amid a quiet session, receding fears of Fed’s tapering.
• US-China trade story, covid headlines fail to entertain traders ahead of Powell’s testimony.

Asian shares remain on the front-foot amid early Tuesday as investors turn optimistic following the latest Fedspeak. Also favoring the market bulls could be firmer US Treasury yields and easing covid woes in Asia.

Amid these plays, MSCI’s index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan gains 0.18% intraday whereas Japan’s Nikkei 225 snaps a four-day downtrend, up 3.0% by the press time.

Australia’s ASX 200 gains 1.62% as downbeat prints of second-tier Aussie data defies challenges to the RBA’s easy money policies. It’s worth noting that a strong print of New Zealand’s Westpac Consumer Survey for Q2 2021 stops NZX 50 to follow the regional friends.

Chinese indices seesaw between gains and losses as Beijing’s ability to deliver trade deal promises risks fresh tensions despite Global Times’ terming the conditions as “make-or-break”. Elsewhere, South Korea’s KOSPI benefits from the upbeat Producer Price Index whereas Indonesia’s IDX follows the broad market conditions even as the Indonesian government battles the virus resurgence. Moving on, India’s BSE Sensex prints 0.80% intraday gains to refresh record top as officials fasten the jabbing.

On a broader front, S&P 500 Futures print mild gains following Wall Street gains while the US 10-year Treasury yields stay firmer after bouncing off a four-month low the previous day.

As global traders brace for Fed Chair Jerome Powell’s testimony to confirm no threats to the easy money policies, markets are likely to remain sluggish ahead of the event. Though, the cautious sentiment may help the US dollar stay mild bid but could risk further declines if Powell matches the upbeat forecasts.

Read: S&P 500 Futures: On defensive above 4,200 amid steady Treasury yields, Jerome Powell eyed