Tuesday, 12 July 2016

Asia markets extend rally as UK political chaos calms, Japan stimulus eyed

Asia markets advanced on Wednesday, extending a global rally that pushed major U.S. indexes to records amid expectations of further easing from Japan and the resolution of some concerns over the U.K. political jumble.

"After being faced with the prospect of a major slowdown in global activity in the wake of the Brexit vote, governments and central banks worldwide are now expected to do their utmost to reassure markets and provide stimulus," said Angus Nicholson, a market analyst at brokerage IG, adding that this expectation partly explained the global rally in equities.

In Japan, the Nikkei 225 was up 1.2 percent, extending Monday and Tuesday's combined 6.5 percent rally, and the Topix added 1.51 percent, as stocks got a boost from a weaker yen amid expectations that a double-bazooka of fiscal and monetary easing was on the cards after Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's coalition won a landslide victory in upper house elections over the weekend.

Abe pledged a fresh round of fiscal stimulus spending following his election victory and analysts broadly expect the Bank of Japan would again turn on the monetary policy spigots.
That helped to weaken the Japanese yen, with the dollar fetching 104.19 yen after trading near the 100 handle late last week; the currency pair was off an earlier high of 104.88.

The yen's relative weakness gave export stocks in Japan a boost, with shares of Toyota up 2.66 percent, Nissan higher by 2.4 percent and Toshiba adding 2.90 percent. Sony traded down 0.89 percent, after retracing earlier gains of more than 1 percent.

Australia's ASX 200 was up 0.47 percent in late-morning trade, boosted by gains in the energy, materials and financials subindexes.
Mining stocks in the country were mostly higher after iron ore prices rose more than 6 percent to $58.80 a tonne overnight. BHP Billiton was up 2.31 percent, while Fortescue added 5.76 percent and Rio Tinto was up 2.49 percent.

In Hong Kong, the Hang Seng index was up 0.56 percent. Chinese mainland markets also traded in positive territory, with the Shanghai composite up 0.29 percent and the Shenzhen composite higher by 0.34 percent. In South Korea, the Kospi gained 0.6 percent.
Concerns over political anarchy in the U.K. eased on Tuesday as U.K. home Secretary Theresa May looked set to be installed as the new prime minister this week, after rival Andrea Leadsom dropped out of the contest, leaving May the only candidate. That eased concerns that the U.K. was rudderless in the wake of David Cameron's resignation as prime minister in the wake of the referendum vote to exit the European Union (EU).

"Risk sentiments are riding high on easing fears of brutal 'Brexit' fallout," Mizuho said in a note Wednesday. "Her promise of a successful 'Brexit' is inspiring hopes of a sensible compromise that will not unnecessarily dent the economy."
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