Asian Markets Set to Increase on Strong U.S. Equities

On Tuesday, Asian stocks were scheduled to open higher after the main indexes on Wall Street closed at record highs and investors were awaiting comments about a meeting of the US central bank later this week. The Dow Jones Industrial Average and the S&P 500 both increased on gains because of travel stocks, as investor optimism was fueled by the congressional approval of a stimulus package bill of around $1.9 trillion and mass vaccinations within the U.S. There was an increase of 0.10% in Japan’s Nikkei 225 futures whereas a 0.55% increase was marked by the Hang Seng index futures in Hong Kong.

In contrast, there was a decline of 0.16% in the e-mini futures for the S&P 500. There was also a 0.24% increase in Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 index in the early hours of trading. A 0.04% gain was also reported by the MSCI gauge of world stocks. Investors are currently looking forward to the outcome of the two-day policy meeting of the US Federal Reserve, which will come to an end on Wednesday. This is due to the fact that increasing bond yields have fueled concerns about a pickup in the overall inflation. It is expected that Fed policymakers will forecast the growth of the US economy in 2021 at the fastest possible rate in decades.

The minutes from the monetary policy meeting of Australia’s central bank for the month of March are due for disclosure around midday. They are expected to shed some light on bond yields and also give an update about the target of the 3-year bond yield. The Bank of England is also scheduled for a meeting on Thursday. Analysts said that markets were expected to be in a holding pattern because the week was all about central bank meetings. There was a 0.53% increase in the Dow Jones Industrial Average on Wall Street by 174.82 points, as it reached 32,953.46.

A 0.65% gain was seen in the S&P 500, which was around 25.6 points and took it to 3,968.94. The Nasdaq composite had increased by 1.05%, which brought it to 13,459.71, an increase of 139.84 points. There was again in airline shares as the companies pointed to indications of recovery, with leisure bookings on the rise as the COVID-19 pandemic slows down. France, Germany and Italy paused the shots of the AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine after possible serious side-effects were reported by several countries. The vaccine was also administered in Australia and they will be watching for developments.

As far as the pan-European STOXX 600 index is concerned, it remained flat on Monday, after it reached its highest level since February of last year. There was also a fall in longer-term US Treasury yields, as the market was waiting for the Fed meeting later in the week and the latest debt auctions by the government. Traders cut back their bearish bets placed on the US dollar, as the greenback gained in currencies trading. There was a 0.154% jump in the dollar index.