Asian Stocks Higher On US’s Lead, Yellen

Japanese shares climbed, propelling a gauge of Asian stocks higher for a sixth day, and the Australian dollar weakened against most major peers. Gold slid, halting a five-day gain, and South Korea’s won strengthened.

The MSCI Asia Pacific Index added 0.6 percent as of 10:03 a.m. in Tokyo, where the Topix Index rose 1.1 percent after being closed yesterday for a holiday. Standard & Poor’s 500 Index futures were little changed after the gauge capped its biggest four-day gain in more than a year. The won gained 0.4 percent versus the greenback and Australia’s dollar weakened 0.2 percent. Spot gold fell 0.3 percent and silver retreated.

Federal Reserve chairmanJanet Yellen pledged to maintain her predecessor’s policies by scaling back stimulus in “measured steps,” saying in remarks to the House Financial Services Committee that economic growth has picked up and the labor market has seen “broad improvement.” Japan reported machinery orders fell 15.7 percent in December from a month earlier, four times the estimated decrease. Data on China’s trade balance and Malaysia’s economic growth are due today.

Bloomberg

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Mingze Wu

Mingze Wu

Currency Analyst at Market Pulse
Based in Singapore, Mingze Wu focuses on trading strategies and technical and fundamental analysis of major currency pairs. He has extensive trading experience across different asset classes and is well-versed in global market fundamentals. In addition to contributing articles to MarketPulseFX, Mingze centers on forex and macro-economic trends impacting the Asia Pacific region.
Mingze Wu