Yield Concerns Weigh Asian Market but Indices Mostly Up

Despite the growing concerns on US Treasury yields, the Asian market recorded significant strides for the day.

Japan’s Nikkei 225 made a conservative hike of 0.06% in its first trading day after the Coming of Age holiday celebrated on Monday.

Investors are still digesting the juices from Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga’s announcement released earlier in the day.

The leader asserted the administration’s plans to extend the scope of the state of emergency originally placed for Tokyo and three other nearby prefectures.

Among the new additions include Osaka, Kyoto, and Hyogo prefectures amid the steady growth of infections in the East Asian country.

In its neighbor country South Korea, the KOSPI index fell by 0.49% in the early morning trading before descending further. It currently trades in the red after falling 1.73% to 3,094.08 points.

In China, the Shanghai Composite Index is up by 0.44% while its counterpart, the Shenzhen Component, also gained 0.46%.

In the latest update on the country’s economic indicators, the producer price index eased 0.4% year on year in December.

Consequently, the consumer price index also hiked by 0.2% during the same period, buoyed by the improvement in food prices.

Such good news is quick to uplift investors’ sentiment in the world’s second-largest economy despite recording its highest daily rate of infections yesterday.

The government resorted to putting the Hebei province in a strict lockdown. This put 11 million in mobility restriction without public transportation.

Meanwhile, the Hong Kong bourse hiked by 0.43% for the day.

The continent recorded significant strides despite the pressure posed by the unprecedented hike in equities.

The ten-year Treasury yields hiked by 1.15% on their way to the highest ascent since March of 2020.

How is Wall Street Coping?

Benchmark US Treasury yields jumped by 1% in the previous week after the results of the Georgia runoff elections circulated the market.

Growing hopes on a bigger stimulus spending with the Democrat-led Congress is the primary propeller of the equities.

Meanwhile, Wall Street’s major indices ended Monday’s session in a gloomy tone. This is amid the growing concerns that the long-awaited stimulus package might be delayed once more.

This is due to the resolution to impeach President Donald Trump from office, just a few days before the end of his post.

Such a decision came from the violent attack on Capitol Hill believed to have been started by his followers.

The Dow Jones fell by nearly 90 points while the S&P 500 index shed off 25.07 points. 

Consequently, the Nasdaq dropped 1.25%, translating to 165.54 points.