Asian Shares Mostly Higher As Inflation, Rate Worries Ease

(RTTNews) - Asian stocks traded mostly higher on Friday, thanks to easing concerns over inflation and interest-rate hikes.

In its half-yearly monetary statement today, Singapore's central bank kept its policy settings unchanged after five straight tightening moves since October 2021.

The Monetary Authority of Singapore said the tightening already underway would ensure inflation slowed sharply later this year. The Straits Times index was up half a percent.

The dollar languished near a two-month low against major peers and gold traded at a 13-month high on bets that the Federal Reserve may soon pause its hiking of interest rates to tame high inflation.

Some economists expect the Fed to raise interest rates for the last time at its FOMC meeting in May.

Oil prices were tad higher in Asian trading, after having slipped overnight following OPEC's warning on potential headwinds.

China's Shanghai Composite index was up 0.3 percent on optimism about the country's economic recovery from the pandemic. Hong Kong's Hang Seng index gained 0.6 percent. Japan's Nikkei index rose over 1 percent and the dollar was relatively steady on the yen after a soft U.S. producer price report.

As inflation and rate-hike worries recede, investors now await earnings from Citigroup Inc, Wells Fargo and JPMorgan Chase & Co for direction.

Seoul shares were little changed while Australia's benchmark S&P/ASX 200 rose 0.3 percent, led by gold miners and tech stocks.

Across the Tasman, New Zealand's benchmark S&P/NZX-50 index was down 0.2 percent.

U.S. stocks rallied overnight after data showed producer prices unexpectedly fell in March and new claims for unemployment benefits rose more than expected last week, helping ease concerns about the outlook for interest rates.

The Dow jumped 1.1 percent and the S&P 500 added 1.3 percent to reach their best closing levels in nearly two months while the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite jumped 2 percent.

European stocks closed higher for a fourth straight session on Thursday, as China reported robust export growth in March, LVMH posted strong Q1 sales growth and reports suggested that ECB policymakers are converging on a 25-bps rate hike in May. The pan European STOXX 600 rose 0.4 percent. The German DAX and the U.K.'s FTSE 100 both edged up around 0.2 percent while France's CAC 40 gained 1.1 percent.