By Ray Wee
SINGAPORE (Reuters) – Asian shares fell in and out of positive territory on Monday, pressured by weakness in Chinese shares, but bitcoin rose to a three-month high as “Trump trades” continued to rise.
Gold hit another record high on conflict in the Middle East and a very close US presidential election, with the yellow metal expected to remain in favor amid much global uncertainty.
Optimism about a series of stimulus measures that Beijing first announced in late September has turned to caution in recent days as investors look forward to more details about more fiscal support from policymakers.
Although China lowered its benchmark lending interest rates on Monday, the move was expected.
Shares in Hong Kong fell in recent trading by 0.6%, while China’s leading stock index oscillated between losses and gains. It was recently trading 0.4% higher, while the Shanghai Composite Index rose 0.36%.
That capped gains in MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan, which was last up a marginal 0.11%, a step back in sentiment after US stocks posted gains for a sixth straight week on Friday.
Japan’s Nikkei index rose 0.34%.
It may take some time for more details about China’s stimulus to emerge.
“We may have to wait until late October or early November to get concrete plans from the NPC Standing Committee meeting,” said Zhaoping Zhou, global market strategist at JPMorgan Asset Management in Shanghai.
American elections
With only about two weeks remaining before the US elections scheduled for November 5, bets are increasing on a Donald Trump victory in some financial instruments.
The Republican candidate’s tariff, tax and immigration policies are seen as inflationary and therefore negative for bonds and positive for the dollar. He is also seen as taking a more positive stance towards cryptocurrencies.
“(It appears) now that Trump is ahead in key battleground states, suggesting that he is well positioned to reclaim the White House and I think the markets are starting to take that into account in the last week with stocks strengthening, yields rising and the US dollar clearly improving,” said Tony Sycamore. , market analyst at IG: “It is very, very good, and Bitcoin is on track for a 10% gain over the past week.”
Bitcoin rose 0.5% in the latest trading to $69,100, after touching its strongest levels since July at $69,487 earlier in the session. The world’s largest cryptocurrency rose 9.6% last week, and is up more than 8% in the month so far.
“Things are looking very good for bitcoin here. I think it can continue to go higher,” Sycamore said.
The dollar swung away from the highest level it recorded in more than two months against a basket of currencies on Monday, and the dollar index recorded 103.46 in the latest transactions.
The British pound fell 0.02% to $1.3045, while the euro fell 0.01% to $1.0865.
In the bond market, the yield on 10-year US Treasury bonds rose one basis point to 4.0907%, while the two-year yield reached 3.9568%. (we/)
The spot price of gold rose to a record level of $2,727.39 per ounce, continuing its rise after gaining more than 2% last week.
“Gold was one of Trump’s clearest trades to date, given his aggressive stance on trade and willingness to weaponize the dollar, keeping demand for diversification well supported among emerging central banks,” said Aaron Say, chief multi-asset strategist at Pictet Asset Management. .
Oil prices rose on Monday, affected by a sharp decline compared to last week. (or)
Brent crude futures rose in the latest trading by 0.4 percent to $73.36 per barrel, while US crude rose 0.43 percent to $69.52 per barrel.
(Reporting by Ray Wee, Editing by Edwina Gibbs)
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