SINGAPORE/NEW YORK (Reuters) – Asian stock markets eked out a 10th consecutive session of gains on Wednesday, but momentum ebbed as doubts about the global recovery from the pandemic returned ahead of the U.S. Federal Reserve meeting.
FILE PHOTO: A man wearing a protective face mask, following the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) outbreak, walks in front of a stock quotation board outside a brokerage in Tokyo, Japan, May 18, 2020. REUTERS/Kim Kyung-Hoon
The sideways moves in equities cap two weeks of stock market gains, turbocharged by Friday’s data showing a completely unexpected rise in U.S. employment last month. Safe havens from gold to the Japanese yen won support as optimism ebbed.
MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan rose 0.3% and Japan’s Nikkei rose 0.1%. The yen held on to two days of big gains and commodity currencies nursed Tuesday’s losses. Gold rose slightly.
Focus has switched to the Fed’s economic outlook and whether a steepening of the U.S. yield curve during last week’s bond market selloff might prompt intervention at longer tenors.
“The Fed tonight i