HONG KONG: Most Asian equities rose, with the regional benchmark index heading for its second gain in three weeks, before US payrolls data. China’s Yuan rose the most this year and Malaysia’s ringgit advanced with oil.
The MSCI Asia Pacific Index climbed 0.4 per cent by 10.58a. in Tokyo, with five stocks rising for every three that fell. Futures on the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index were little changed after the US gauge added one per cent. The yuan climbed 0.2 per cent after the central bank forced appreciation for the second time this week. The ringgit added 0.7 per cent. Oil in New York traded 1.4 per cent higher as a gauge of price swings hit an almost five-year high.
Australia’s benchmark stock gauge fluctuated near a more than 6 1/2-year high today. If the gauge holds on to gains today, it will have capped a record 12-day rising streak.
The Aussie measure has a dividend yield of 4.23 per cent, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. That’s 198 basis points more than the RBA’s overnight cash rate and more than twice the 1.95 per cent offered by the S&P 500.
Japan’s Topix index climbed 0.6 per cent, led by a 2.7 per cent jump in SoftBank Corp., whose Sprint Corp. unit posted better-than-estimated earnings after “half-price” offers helped the carrier add subscribers for the first time in 12 quarters.
Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index fluctuated and a gauge of Chinese companies in the city was little changed. The Shanghai Composite Index slid 0.4 per cent and is heading for its third straight weekly retreat, the longest such streak since May last year.
The yuan strengthened the most this year after the People’s Bank of China raised its reference rate for the yuan to a level that forced appreciation, the second time it’s done so this week. The currency climbed 0.23 per cent to 6.2377 per dollar.
Australia’s currency strengthened 0.4 percent to 78.30 US cents, set for its biggest weekly gain a month. Downside revisions from the RBA were less than market expectations, reducing the chances of a rate cut in May, Elias Haddad, a senior currency strategist at Commonwealth Bank, said in an interview.
Malaysia’s ringgit climbed to 3.5495 per dollar, the strongest level in a month, amid the recovery in oil prices.
