Asian stocks track Wall Street’s Nvidia-led rally

By Julie Zhu

HONG KONG (Reuters) -Asian shares rallied on Thursday after blockbuster results from tech darling Nvidia (NASDAQ:) boosted Wall Street and a retreat in U.S. bond yields eased pressure on borrowing costs globally.

A round of soft manufacturing surveys had also revived hopes central banks were done tightening, though that might change depending on what clues about interest rates Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell gives at an annual central bank summit in Jackson Hole, Wyoming, on Friday.

“Equities rallied and bond yields retreated as flash PMI data for August signalled weaker economic activity in the U.S., euro area and UK, fuelling market expectations that central banks may not have to raise rates again,” said analysts at ANZ in a note.

“This week’s Jackson Hole Symposium remains firmly in focus for markets … We expect (Powell) will err on the side of caution with respect to inflation, noting some signs of improvement but still with a long way to go.”

European markets were set for a higher open, with pan-region up 1.7%, German rising 0.6% and futures adding 0.5%.

MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan was up 1.7%, also lifted by Nvidia’s bullish outlook.

The index is however down 8.1% so far this month due to the weakness in China’s economy and yuan, as well as some gloomy factory readings from Japan, which also left sentiment fragile.

U.S. stock futures, the , rose 0.77%.

Australian shares edged up 0.63%, while stock index rose 0.81%, in a fourth straight session of gains on Thursday, the longest streak since mid-June.

China stocks also rebounded on Thursday with blue-chip CSI300 index advancing 1.28% and Hong Kong’s up 2.1% in afternoon trade as some investors bought the dip following recent slumps.

The yuan inched higher against the dollar, as the central bank continued to fix the daily mid-point at stronger-than-expected levels.

“With the Chinese currency edging higher today, foreign capital has flowed back into and helped stabilise China’s stock markets,” Zhang Zihua, chief investment officer at Beijing Yunyi Asset Management. “A rally in the broader Asian markets following Nvidia’s forecast has also lifted sentiment.”

Foreign investors bought a net 2.9 billion yuan ($398.78 million) of Chinese shares so far in the day, snapping a 13-day selling streak.

On Wednesday, U.S. stocks ended sharply higher across the board as shares of Nvidia jumped nearly 10% in trading after the bell, hitting an all-time high after it forecast third-quarter revenue well above Wall Street targets.

On Wall Street, the rose 0.54%, the gained 1.10% and the added 1.59%.

In U.S. Treasuries, the yield on benchmark reached 4.2076% compared with its U.S. close of 4.198% on Wednesday when it eased from near 16-year highs after weak business activity data from the United States and the euro zone.

The two-year yield, which rises with traders’ expectations of higher Fed fund rates, touched 4.9885% compared with a U.S. close of 4.952%.

In currency markets, the stayed flat at 103.35 in afternoon Asia trade after hitting a two-month high of 103.4 against a basket of major currencies.

The yen recovered to 145.165 after hitting a nine-month trough of 145.34 amid talk from a former Bank of Japan official that Japan will only intervene in the market if the currency plunges past 150 to the dollar.

dipped 0.06% to $78.84 a barrel. fell to $83.2 per barrel.

Gold was slightly higher. was traded at $1,919.5 per ounce. [GOL/]

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