SYDNEY (Reuters) - Global bond markets were tense on Tuesday amid talk of central bank tightening and the risk of a robust reading on U.S. economic growth later in the week, though stellar results from internet giant Alphabet supported tech stocks in Asia.
A man looks at an electronic stock quotation board outside a brokerage in Tokyo, Japan February 9, 2018. REUTERS/Toru Hanai
Shares in the parent of Google climbed 3.6 percent after hours to hit a record high, valuing the group at a cool $870 billion.
That made up for an otherwise dull day on Wall Street where the Dow eased 0.06 percent, while the S&P 500 gained 0.18 percent and the Nasdaq 0.28 percent.
In Asia, Shanghai shares seemed to get a boost from news Beijing would adopt a more “vigorous” fiscal policy, including company tax cuts.
Chinese blue chips rose 1.6 percent to a one-month high, while MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan added 0.47 percent.
Japan’s Nikkei edged up 0.5 percent even as a disappointing reading on local factory activity suggested the threat of a trade war was starting to bite.
Bond bulls were still smarting from speculation that the Bank of Japan is close to announcing measures to scale back its massive monetary stimulus, a risk that lifted long-term borrowing costs globally.
Markets were worried that Japanese investors would have less incentive to hunt offshore for yield, said ANZ economist Felicity Emmett.
“The 10 basis-point steepening in the Japanese yield curve is massive in the context of a market that rarely moves more than 1 basis point,” she added.
“It reflects a broader fear that central banks are reducing their purchases while U.S. bond supply is set to rise significantly.”
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