According to Yahoo News, Asian investors on Tuesday built on a Wall Street rally as analysts said a strong US Treasury auction indicated confidence on trading floors that the Federal Reserve is finished hiking interest rates. Expectations that financial conditions will become easier in the new year as inflation comes down have fanned a rush back into risk assets in recent weeks and pushed the dollar down against its peers.
All three main indexes in New York extended their gains Monday, with the Nasdaq hitting a 22-month high thanks to an advance in tech giants including Amazon, Microsoft and Nvidia. The gains were boosted by the successful sale of 20-year US Treasuries that sent yields on other notes lower. Talk is now growing that the Fed could cut borrowing costs as early as March, much earlier than previous bets on the second half of 2024.
Hong Kong led the way in Asia, putting on more than one percent, having jumped almost two percent Monday. Market heavyweight Alibaba jumped more than three percent to extend its rebound after diving 10 percent Friday on news it had cancelled the spinoff of its cloud computing arm. Shanghai, Sydney, Seoul, Taipei and Manila were also up, though Tokyo struggled owing to a strengthening yen.
