(Bloomberg) -- Stocks in Asia opened modestly higher as investors monitor an easing of geopolitical tension and await the latest reading on the U.S. labor market. U.S. equities earlier rose to all-time highs.
Shares in Japan, South Korea and Australia nudged up. The S&P 500 Index climbed to a fresh record Thursday and the yen dropped to a two-week low versus the dollar as tension in the Middle East ebbed. Also aiding sentiment, jobless claims fell more than expected, adding to signs of economic strength ahead of the U.S. payrolls report Friday. Ten-year Treasury yields were flat after dipping Thursday on the back of a government auction.
Signs that America and Iran have stepped back from the brink of war helped revitalize risk appetite during the second half of this week. Adding to sentiment, the partial trade deal between the U.S. and China looks locked in as China’s vice premier will visit Washington next week for a signing ceremony. Investors also received reassurance from Federal Reserve vice chairman Richard Clarida that the U.S. economy remains in a good place and the central bank isn’t about to switch course.
“Even though we are hitting close to or near all-time highs, we still feel pretty excited about this market,” Timothy Horsburgh, a strategist at Invesco, told Bloomberg TV. “What we’ve seen over the past couple of days with some of this relief rally, this is indicative of a market that’s wanted to go higher for a while now as a result of better fundamentals and little bit of optimism around reaccelerating growth here in the U.S.”
Elsewhere, oil traded near to the lowest level since mid-December amid the receding concerns about U.S.-Iran conflict.
These are moves in major markets:
Stocks
- Futures on the S&P 500 Index rose 0.1% as of 9:06 a.m. in Tokyo. The underlying gauge gained 0.7% on Thursday.
- Japan’s Topix index advanced 0.4%.
- South Korea’s Kospi index rose 0.4%.
- Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 Index gained 0.7%.
- The yen was little changed at 109.53 per dollar.
- The offshore yuan held at 6.9267 per dollar.
- The euro was little changed at $1.1108.
- The yield on 10-year Treasuries remained at about 1.86%.
- Australia’s 10-year yield dipped two basis points to 1.22%.
- West Texas Intermediate crude was steady at $59.51 a barrel.
- Gold was flat at $1,552.41 an ounce.