* Asia shares strengthen on China trade data
* China imports rise at fastest pace in 4 years
* Investors watch for US inflation published Tuesday
*
By Scott Murdoch
HONG KONG, April 13 (Reuters) - Asian stocks markets were
broadly positive Tuesday after China's exports grew at a strong
pace during March and imports rebounded giving investors heart
that domestic demand is improving as part of the recovery from
the pandemic.
MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan
.MIAPJ0000PUS was trading up 0.4% Tuesday after opening up
less than 0.1% higher.
In Australia, the S&P/ASX200 .XJO bucked the regional
trend and was flat while Japan's Nikkei .N225 rose 1.1% in the
afternoon session.
Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index .HSI added nearly 1% while
the mainland bluechip index CSI300 .CSI300 edged up 0.5% and
ground after the March trade figures were published.
South Korea's KOSPI 200 Index .KS200 doubled its early
gains to be up 1%.
China's exports in dollar terms rose by 30.6% in March from
one year earlier while imports jumped 38.1% compared to the same
time last year, figures published Tuesday showed.
Imports grew at the fastest pace in four years which
analysts said indicated a post-pandemic recovery in Chinese
domestic demand. "China is benefitting because of its surging 'first in first
out' recovery but the global economy is also accelerating and
picking up and that will diminish some of China's export
performance in the quarters ahead," said John Woods, Credit
Suisse's Asia Pacific chief investment officer.
The trade data helped turn around a weaker tone that was
evident earlier in Asia following declines on Wall Street
overnight.
In the United States, the Dow Jones Industrial Average
.DJI fell 55.2 points, or 0.16%, to 33,745.4, the S&P 500
.SPX lost 0.81 points, or 0.02%, to 4,127.99 and the Nasdaq
Composite .IXIC dropped 50.19 points, or 0.36%, to 13,850.00.
Boston Federal Reserve Bank President Eric Rosengren said
Monday the U.S. economy could see a significant rebound this
year due to looser money and fiscal policy but the country's job
market still faced weakness.
He said with inflation still below the central bank's 2%
target rate the current "highly accommodative" monetary policy
stance remained appropriate. U.S. inflation data for March is due to be published later
in the global day.
The dollar =USD rose from near a three-week low against
major rivals on Tuesday, buoyed by a bump in Treasury yields, as
traders awaited the highly anticipated inflation data.
Sat Duhra, Singapore-based portfolio manager at Janus
Henderson Investors, said he expected blips in inflation to be
temporary and for there to be a long period of steady growth and
low inflation, after a swift rebound from the pandemic. He also
expects the rotation from the growth and momentum stocks into
value-based ones to persist.
"The spread between equity yield and bond yields is still
respectable and very interesting," Duhra said.
"The gap in valuations between growth and value stocks is so
large, that there is still a way for this to continue. It's not
rotation just for the sake of it."
The benchmark 10-year yield US10YT=RR was at 1.6943% in
the Asian session, holding below a 14-month high of 1.776%
reached on March 30.
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