By Gina Lee
Investing.com – Asia Pacific stocks were up on Wednesday morning. Investors are keeping an eye on the tightening monetary policies.
Japan’s Nikkei 225 rose 0.92% by 10:08 PM ET (3:09 AM GMT). The Bank of Japan sticks to its bond buying plan even yields rose to 0.215%, closer to the central bank’s ceiling.
South Korea’s KOSPI gained 0.67%
In Australia, the ASX 200 rose 0.57%
Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index was up 1.86%
China’s Shanghai Composite was up 0.35% while the Shenzhen Component rose 0.75%. Chinese state-backed funds intervened in the stock market to buy local stocks Tuesday afternoon after the biggest intraday drop of the benchmark index since August 2021.
U.S. equity futures advanced. Bond markets remain wary as the U.S. Federal Reserve gears up to raise interest rates to restrain inflation.
Investors are keeping an eye on continuous robust corporate earnings against worries about a rapid withdrawal of stimulus measures since the COVID-19 pandemic. Investors expect the U.S. Federal Reserve to adopt a more aggressive liftoff in March as data this week may show a mounting U.S. inflation.
“We’re still in an environment where a lot is going quite well for the economy,” Lauren Goodwin, a multi-asset portfolio strategist at New York Life Investments, told Bloomberg Television. “It’s still an all-cyclicals story from our perspective.”
Goodwin said the firm is looking at asset classes like small-caps and value stocks while stressing the importance of security selection.
About 76% of S&P 500 firms have reported profits were more than 6% above projected levels.
“Even though the growth rate is slowing, we are still seeing positive revisions going forward,” Erin Gibbs, Main Street Asset Management chief investment officer, told Bloomberg Television.
That and forward guidance suggest companies “clearly think that profit growth is going to significantly outpace inflation for a year so that is another positive sign,” Gibbs said.