Asian stocks and dollar turn to US infrastructure frenzy By Reuters

By Wayne Cole

SYDNEY (Reuters) – Asian stocks edged up and the United States hit multi-month highs on Monday as the likelihood of more than $ trillions in US budget spending underpinned the outlook for global growth .

Optimism about the U.S. economy helped Wall Street rally on Friday night, while as of Sunday 143 million vaccines were given to nearly 94 million people.

President Joe Biden is expected to give details of his infrastructure spending plans on Wednesday, while payrolls are expected to rise by 630,000 Friday by 630,000 people amid gossip it could be a million or more.

“We forecast robust growth of the global economy at 6.4% this year, fueled by a significant US fiscal stimulus, with positive spillover effects for the rest of the world,” said Barclays (LON 🙂 economist Christian Keller.

“The rise in inflation over the next few months is expected to be transient, and core central banks seem determined to look into it.”

The largest MSCI index of Asia-Pacific stocks outside of Japan rose 0.1% as activity was limited by the approaching end of the quarter.

added 1%, although there was some nervousness when Nomura announced that it discovered a loss in its U.S. unit that could amount to $ 2 billion.

There has also been some caution after a wave of $ 20 billion in block trades hit the markets on Friday, apparently linked to investment fund Archegos Capital.

For now, futures on the Nasdaq were down 0.4% and 0.3%.

The prospect of faster economic growth in the United States has sparked speculation about higher inflation and weighed on Treasury prices. Yields on US 10-year notes rose 1.67% and were approaching the recent 13-month high of 1.754%.

European yields were limited by active purchases from the European Central Bank, widening the yield advantage of the dollar against the euro. The single currency was last at $ 1.1786, after hitting a five-month low at $ 1.1760 last week.

TD Securities analysts noted that the euro found no advantage in a very strong German IfO survey on Friday, which showed corporate morale at an almost two-year high and signs of recovery in the securities sector. services.

“This suggests that market positioning still remains significantly skewed towards the long side – even though the spot has seen a significant decline through the 200-day moving average,” they wrote in a note. “We continue to focus on downside risks from here.”

The dollar was also firm at 109.70 yen, hitting its highest since early June on Friday at 109.84. The stood at 92.776, after hitting its highest level since mid-November.

The rebound in yields weighed on gold, which offers no fixed yield, and left it at $ 1,730 an ounce.

Oil prices, and commodities in general, have been supported by speculation that a blockage in the Suez Canal could take weeks to clear, delaying oil shipments by a million barrels per day. There are now more than 300 ships waiting to pass through the sea route which accounts for 12% of world trade.

The market will be cautious ahead of an OPEC meeting this week to decide whether to extend supply limits or loosen the taps. [O/R]

was off 7 cents to $ 64.50 in early trade, while dipping 24 cents to $ 60.73 a barrel.