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Friday, 15 March 2019 00:00 - - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}
SYDNEY (Reuters): Asian shares barely budged on Thursday as investors reacted cautiously to mixed data from China, while the pound hovered near nine-month highs as the risk of a no-deal Brexit receded following a late-night vote.
MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan held at 522.06 points.
Japan’s Nikkei rose 0.5% while Australian and New Zealand shares each added 0.2%.
Chinese shares were in the red after data showed the country’s industrial output expanded at the slowest pace in 17 years, although retail sales and fixed asset investment grew by more than expected.
Shanghai’s SSE Composite index stumbled 1.2% while the blue-chip CSI 300 eased 0.4%.
Investors were watching the data for clues about the health of China’s economy after growth cooled to 6.6% last year.Despite China’s slowing growth, Asian markets have had an impressive rally this year, with the MSCI index climbing about 10% largely after the US Federal Reserve all but abandoned its rate hike plans.
Wall Street was buoyant overnight after US producer prices barely edged higher in February, the latest sign that inflation remained tame and affirming expectations the Federal Reserve would maintain a “patient” approach to future tightening.
Analysts, however, remain sceptical about how much further the share rally would run as slowing global growth, weak corporate earnings and trade tensions between the United States and China hang heavy on risk assets.
The state of US-China trade talks also weighed on investors after President Donald Trump said he was in no rush to complete an agreement. Trump and his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping had been expected to hold a summit at the president’s Mar-a-Lago property in Florida later this month, but no date has been set for a meeting.
Most of the action overnight was in sterling after the British parliament rejected leaving the European Union without a deal, paving the way for a vote that could delay Brexit until at least the end of June.
The rejection of a no-deal Brexit sent the cable rallying to $1.3380, the highest since June 2018. It jumped 2.1% for its best one-day percentage gain since April 2017 and was last at $1.3315.
Analysts said the real test for sterling was yet to come as lawmakers still need to agree a way forward before an extension on Britain’s exit could be obtained from the European Union.
The euro extended gains for a fifth day in a row to the highest since March 5. It was last at $1.1329.
Wednesday’s vote boosted investor optimism in European equities too, with the pan-European STOXX 600 index climbing 0.6% while London’s FTSE 100 added 0.1% as sterling extended gains.
The dollar index hovered near a seven-day trough hit after the inflation data against a basket of major currencies Against the Japanese yen, the greenback gained slightly to 111.44.
