Australian shares are set to rise as Wall Street lifted for a second day in a row as a bond sell-off eased and investors’ fears of an aggressive Fed tightening were soothed.
US stocks rose for a second day as a selloff in bonds eased, bringing some respite for markets whipsawed in recent weeks by concerns about tightening monetary policy.P 500 advanced after Tuesday’s broad-based rally, with tech stocks now having recovered almost half of their losses this year. Megacaps led the Nasdaq 100 higher, with dip-buying seen in Facebook parent Meta after a four-day slide wiped about a third off its market value.
GSK rose 0.6% after beating quarterly forecasts in its first earnings report since rejecting Unilever’s bid for its consumer arm. Barratt added 2.6% as it expects to build 250 more homes than its previous annual forecast, which would also cross pre-pandemic levels, easing concerns about demand in UK’s housing market.Klarna is Europe’s most valuable fintech unicorn, a payment pioneer in a booming sector that’s being wooed by London for its potential stock listing.
Alibaba was the top gainer on the Hang Seng, ending 6.83% higher after two days of losses. It was also the top gainer among H-shares, followed by Kuaishou Technology, which jumped 5.23%, and NetEase, which rose 4.88%. “For a lot of reserve managers and conservative mandates that aren’t allowed to invest in negative-yielding debt, the actual move in yields to and above zero will be important in catalyzing inflows,” said Kamakshya Trivedi, co-head of foreign exchange and rates at Goldman in London. “It wouldn’t be unusual for more discretionary investors to get ahead of that in anticipation of more positive yielding euro-denominated instruments.
Money markets are still pricing in a 25 bps rate increase in March and 125 bps by December 2022, but some analysts have warned about the risks of excessive expectations.Oil steadied ahead of US inventory data as traders weighed ongoing market strength against risks to the current rally, including the addition of supplies from Iran.