Asian shares were mingled on April 28 as already high valuations discouraged investors from buying equity ahead of the near-sighted US Federal Reserve meeting.
MSCI’s broader index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan declined 0.23%. Australian stock rose 0.55%, but shares in China slipped 0.44%. Stock in Tokyo rose 0.16%.
S&P 500 E-Mini stock futures rose 0.09%.
Fed Chairman Jerome Powell is expected to maintain a smooth monetary policy for the long term and reject any suggestion of a bond purchase.
US President Joe Biden will also address a joint session of Congress, where he can make additional comments about infrastructure and stimulus spending.
These developments would be positive for stocks in general, but analysts say the price of too much economic optimism is already in the equity market that it is difficult to buy stocks beyond current levels.
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“We expect the Fed’s tone to be more positive than the economy at the March FOMC meeting, but we don’t expect any fresh new signals yet,” TD Securities analysts wrote. is. Research Note.
“While we do not expect much price action due to the Fed’s decision, Biden’s comment may suggest keeping in mind the state of the incoming supply, bears (treasury yields).”
The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.01%, but the S&P 500 lost 0.02% and the Nasdaq Composite declined 0.34% as investors digested a mixed bag of overnight earnings from Tesla Inc., 3M, Microsoft Corp. and Google-parent Alphabet. took.
Some investors were reluctant to move from heavyweight Apple Inc., Facebook Inc. and Amazon.com Inc. before earnings later this week.
Expectations for a recovery in the US economy, rising rates of coronavirus vaccination, and large fiscal spending are troubling more investors when the Fed begins to slow down its bond purchases and how much inflation policymakers will tolerate.
The rate of Brexit on 10-year Treasury Inflation-Protected Securities, a measure of expected annual inflation for the coming decade, has increased since 2013 to 2.41%.
Yield on the 10-year benchmark stood at 1.6217%, a one-week high.
The dollar was up slightly against the yen and the British pound, but trading is expected to subside until Powell speaks after the Fed meeting.
The Australian dollar was lower after disappointing data on consumer prices.
In the cryptocurrency market, Ether reached an all-time high of more than $ 2,700 after being reported by Bloomberg, with the European Investment Bank planning to sell a two-year digital bond worth 100 million euros ($ 120.80 million) on the Ethereum blockchain network. Is made
Rival cryptocurrency bitcoin rose to $ 55,618.
Among commodities, Brent crude futures fell 0.09% to US $ 66.36 per barrel, while US West Texas Intermediate crude fell 0.05% to US $ 62.91 a barrel.
Benchmark Copper continued its trend toward a record above $ 10,000 per ton. The metal is used so widely in manufacturing and heavy industry worldwide that it is considered a barometer of economic health.
However, gold before the Fed meeting, often seen as a hedge against inflation, fell 0.49% to $ 1,768.00 in cautious trading. ($ 1 = 0.8278 euro)