Asian shares News

Asian shares snoozed near 18-month highs on Friday as trade thinned in the run-up to Christmas and investors seemed content to digest the chunky gains already made so far this month. MSCI`s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan was a fraction firmer in early trade, having gained 1.2% for the week so far and almost 5% for the month.

Overnight, the S&P 500 rose to a near four-month peak while the Dow and the Nasdaq also gained.

FTSE futures slipped 0.5 percent while Eurostoxx 50 futures eased 0.1 percent.

Global shares rallied for all of 2017 but have started this year on the back foot, hit by a combination of factors including the risk of faster rate rises in the United States and alarm over protectionism.

The benchmark indices ended marginally lower on Tuesday ahead of Gross Domestic Product (GDP) to be released on Wednesday.

The domestic indices ended nearly 1% higher on Monday taking cues from its Asian counterparts.

The NSE index Nifty hit 10,337.75, with gains of 39 points -- or 0.37 percent.

The BSE benchmark Sensex hit all-time high of 33,865.95 in opening trade on Tuesday amid strong global cues.

The National Stock Exchange index Nifty too was up 8.55 points, or 0.08 percent, to trade at 10,449.05.

PSU, consumer durables, infrastructure and auto stocks remained in the lead. Positive Asian shares added to optimism.

The dollar buckled and US bond yields dipped after a report that President Donald Trump was leaning towards Jerome Powell as the next chair of the Federal Reserve.

MSCI`s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan gained 0.2 percent to its highest level since late 2007.

Investors are settling into a cautious mode while they await the U.S. data, including June consumer confidence, pending home sales, crude oil inventories and revised first-quarter GDP for signs of softness that could push back rate hike expectations.

Japan`s Nikkei rose more than 1 percent to a near two-year high on Tuesday, encouraged by rebound in U.S. hi-tech shares as investors bet on solid growth in the economy and corporate profits globally.

Asian stocks extended gains for a fifth consecutive day on Wednesday, as renewed optimism about the world`s biggest economy brightened the outlook for risky assets while the euro held on to previous gains as political concerns in France ebbed.

Asian shares hit 15-month highs on Tuesday while the dollar and U.S. bond yields were on the back foot on the prospect of a less-hawkish Federal Reserve policy trajectory.

Asian shares climbed to their highest in more than 18 months on Thursday, as investors grew more confident about the world`s second-largest economy while the dollar slightly firmed in the wake of growing concerns over political instability in Europe.

Asian shares and gold retreated on Wednesday and bond yields were near two-week highs as markets were rattled by a media report flagging the possible withdrawal of the European Central Bank`s bond buying program.

Asian shares began the week under a cloud on Monday after losses on Wall Street, and as investors` attention turned from central banks to American politics ahead of the first U.S. presidential debate. 

Asian shares wallowed near six-week lows on Wednesday, bruised by a fall in oil prices on renewed worries about a supply glut and as investors grew nervous about the diminishing capacity of the world`s major central banks to shore up economic growth.