BackMarkets likely to stay in range, Yes Bank shares in focus
Asian shares closed in on their July peakOn Wall Street, the S&P 500 gained 0.37% to a record high
PremiumIndian stock markets may continue to stay rangebound on Tuesday. Asian shares closed in on their July peak on Tuesday on increasing signs the United States and China are inching closer to a truce in their trade war and on optimism the US economy is well poised for solid, consumer-driven growth.
MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan was little changed in early trade after hitting a four-month high the previous day. Japan's Nikkei rose 1.34% to one-year high after a market holiday on Monday.
On Wall Street, the S&P 500 gained 0.37% to a record high of 3,078.27 on Monday while the Dow Jones and the Nasdaq also clinched all-time highs.
In Europe, shares rallied more than 1%, with many reaching their highest level since January 2018. The STOXX 600 index of small, mid-sized and large companies across Europe surged to highs last seen in July 2015.
US S&P 500 futures gained a further 0.2% in Asia after the Financial Times reported on Tuesday that the United States is considering dropping some tariffs on China.
The news report came after Beijing and Washington spoke of progress in trade talks on Friday and US Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross said licenses for US companies to sell components to China's Huawei Technologies Co will come "very shortly."
US employment data released on Friday showed strong job gains despite the drag from a strike at General Motors, offering some assurance that consumers would continue to support the slowing economy.
Back home, India on Monday decided against joining the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) trade deal, holding that it did not receive any “credible assurance on market access and non-tariff barriers".
The other 15 members, however, decided to go ahead and sign the trade deal sometime next year, keeping the door open for India to join at a later date.
The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) on Monday said chief executives of banks should have at least half of their pay based on performance, as the regulator tries to tweak incentives to prevent the reckless risk-taking that has burdened India’s lenders with record bad loans.
Ace stock market investor Rakesh Jhunjhunwala on Monday bought Yes Bank shares worth ₹87 crore, according to data from stock exchanges.
Jhunjhunwala bought 12.95 million shares of the lender at a price of ₹67.1 apiece, data shows. The investment in Yes shares by Jhunjhunwala comes after the lender announced last week that it has received offers of $3 billion from potential investors, including the recently-announced $1.2 billion from a North American family office.
Meanwhile, US bonds are losing some of their appeal and the yield on benchmark 10-year notes rose back to 1.799% compared to last week's low of 1.670%.
In the currency market, the dollar gained to 108.60 yen, extending its recovery from 107.89 touched on Friday.
Trade optimism kept the Chinese yuan near its highest levels since mid-August, with the offshore yuan at 7.0246 per dollar.
The euro changed hands at $1.1128, off last week's high of $1.1175.
The Australian dollar traded at $0.68915 , staying near one-week low after a dire set of retail sales numbers released on Monday suggested the economy was still struggling despite three cuts in interest rates.
Oil prices held firm after hitting their highest levels since late September, buoyed by an improved outlook for crude demand as better-than-expected US jobs growth added to market hopes a preliminary US-China trade deal would be reached this month.
US West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude CLc1 traded at $56.56 per barrel, having hit a six-week high of $57.43 on Monday.
(Bloomberg contributed to the story)
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