NEW YORK/SINGAPORE- Asia shares rose on Thursday, tracking gains on Wall Street following a see-saw session, while US Treasury yields came under pressure after mixed economic data.
European stock futures pointed to solid gains later in the day, extending their rally from the previous session in part due to a surge in healthcare stocks as sales of Novo Nordisk’s blockbuster drug Wegovy more than doubled in the fourth quarter.
Though many uncertainties remain under US President Donald Trump’s new administration, markets were for now relieved that things were not worse, particularly with regard to the tit-for-tat tariff moves between the US and its major trading partners.
That helped lift global share markets and kept the dollar in check, giving some respite to its peers which had been heavily battered at the start of the week.
“Relief is probably a good way to characterize (the market mood),” said Khoon Goh, head of Asia research at ANZ.
“Also in respect to China, even though the tariffs have officially come into force since Tuesday and China has sort of retaliated, but the retaliation from the Chinese side is very measured.”
The People’s Bank of China (PBOC) on Thursday again set a stronger-than-expected yuan midpoint fixing, countering concerns it might allow the currency to slide to offset the impact of tariffs on the country’s exports.
That kept the onshore yuan steady around 7.2766 per dollar, while its offshore counterpart rose 0.07 percent to 7.2778.
China’s CSI300 blue-chip index reversed early losses to trade slightly higher, while the Shanghai Composite Index gained 0.13 percent.
“Chinese authorities at this stage are not indicating or showing any intention of weakening the yuan as part of the response to the tariffs. I think that has definitely helped to calm the market down,” said Goh.
MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan advanced 0.28 percent, while Japan’s Nikkei tacked on 0.28 percent.
Nasdaq futures ticked up 0.04 percent, while S&P 500 futures rose 0.09 percent.
