Asian Shares Mostly Higher As Investors Await Fed Minutes

Asian stocks traded mostly higher in early trade on Tuesday, with technology stocks leading the surge.

The dollar nursed losses and benchmark U.S.10-year Treasury yields hovered near two-month lows hit last week, while gold edged higher amid expectations that U.S. interest rates may have peaked.

Investors looked ahead to the release of minutes from Federal Reserve’s latest meeting later in the day for additional clues on the rate outlook.

Oil extended gains after rising more than 2 percent on Monday amid hopes of OPEC+ deepening output cuts.

China’s Shanghai Composite index jumped 0.6 percent after a Bloomberg report that regulators are drafting a list of 50 developers eligible for a range of financing.

China Vanke Co., Seazen Group Ltd. and Longfor Group Holdings Ltd. are among the list of developers that may be eligible for support from bank loans, debt and equity financing.

Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index rallied 1.5 percent ahead of earnings due from Baidu and Kuaishou Technology.

Japan’s Nikkei average was marginally lower as the yen steadied near a seven-week high against the dollar.

South Korea’s Kospi average was up 0.8 percent, led by technology stocks.

Australia’s benchmark S&P ASX 200 edged up 0.2 percent after RBA minutes showed the board believed the risk of inflation continuing above target was too high to keep rates on hold.

Across the Tasman, New Zealand’s benchmark S&P NZX-50 index was down 0.3 percent.

U.S. stocks started a holiday shortened week on a positive note overnight as bond yields slipped after a strong 20-year notes auction and Microsoft announced it has hired Altman to spearhead “a new advanced AI research team.”

The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite jumped 1.1 percent to reach its best closing level since late July, while the S&P 500 added 0.7 percent and the Dow gained 0.6 percent.

European stocks ended mixed on Monday after a strong week driven by dovish Fed bets.

The pan European STOXX 600 finished marginally higher. The German DAX and the U.K.’s FTSE 100 both eased around 0.1 percent while France’s CAC 40 edged up 0.2 percent.

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