SYDNEY- Asian financial markets were little changed on Tuesday as investors awaited congressional testimony from Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell due to start later in the day for clues on the central bank’s next move on interest rates.
MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan was flat after US stocks ended the previous session with mild gains. The index is up 2.9 percent so far this month.
The yield on benchmark 10-year Treasury notes reached 3.9675 percent, compared with its US close of 3.983 percent on Monday.
The two-year yield, which rises with traders’ expectations of higher Fed fund rates, touched 4.8945 percent compared with a US close of 4.894 percent.
Australian shares were 0.1 percent lower after being down 0.3 percent earlier in the session, while Japan’s Nikkei stock index rose 0.5 percent.
Australian stocks were dragged down by resource majors BHP Group and Rio Tinto, which analysts said were weaker on the back of China’s growth target being set at about 5 percent for 2023.
“The lack of any new stimulus measures meant China is currently content with just stabilizing its economy, a move which wasn’t seen as supportive for global growth,” Ord Minnett analysts said.
“In response, commodity prices and commodity-related shares fell (overnight).”
The Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) is tipped to order its tenth consecutive interest rate rise today at 2.30pm AEDT (0330 GMT) and raise the official cash rate by 25 basis points to 3.6 percent.
In Hong Kong, the Hang Seng Index was up 0.06 percent and China’s blue chip CSI300 Index was 0.07 percent higher.
Overnight, the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.12 percent and the S&P 500 was up 0.07 percent, while the Nasdaq Composite was off 0.11 percent.
The Fed’s Powell is due to deliver his semi-annual testimony before Congress on Tuesday and Wednesday, which will be closely watched for clues regarding the extent and duration of the US central bank’s restrictive monetary policy aimed at curbing inflation. – Reuters
