* Asian stock markets: https://tmsnrt.rs/2zpUAr4
* Equities and commodities supported by recovery hopes
* Treasury rally continues, yields fall
* Dollar nurses losses as bears return to market
* Investors watching Washington after Capitol Hill riot
By Stanley White and Chibuike Oguh
TOKYO/NEW YORK, Jan 13 (Reuters) - Asian stocks rose on
Wednesday, tracking modest Wall Street gains, as expectations
that a vaccine will eventually win the battle against the
coronavirus fuelled recovery hopes, while tight supply
expectations pushed oil prices to a one-year high.
MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan
.MIAPJ0000PUS rose 0.61%, while Japan's Nikkei 225 .N225
rose 1.12%.
Chinese shares .CSI300 rose 0.07% while South Korea's
KOSPI .KS11 gained 1.05%. Australia's S&P/ASX 200 .AXJO
reversed losses and added 0.18%.
U.S. stock futures EScv1 edged up by 0.18%.
Treasuries extended their rally, pulling benchmark 10-year
yields further away from the highest in almost a year and
causing the yield curve to flatten slightly.
Euro Stoxx 50 futures STXEc1 fell 0.03%, German DAX
futures FDXc1 were up 0.03% and Britain's FTSE futures FFIc1
were up 0.18%, pointing to a subdued start to European trade.
Investors are betting that the incoming Biden administration
would ramp up U.S. distribution of coronavirus vaccines and
spend big on more stimulus, which will contribute to a global
economic recovery and increased demand for commodities, analysts
say.
Hugh Young, head of Asia Pacific at Aberdeen Standard
Investments, said he expected the investor interest in Asia seen
in the second half of 2020 to be sustained this year.
"The eternal question is overvaluation. Asian markets have
done extremely well, which is sort of frustrating, but certainly
the quality is there in Asia, the momentum is in Asia so it
looks to be a stable year and a positive year for Asia," Young
said on a panel at the Reuters Next conference.
On Wall Street, stocks fluctuated near unchanged for the
session, not far from record highs. The Dow .DJI rose 0.19%,
the S&P 500 .SPX gained 0.04% and the Nasdaq Composite .IXIC
added 0.28%.
U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) CLc1 rose 1.13% to
$53.81 a barrel, reaching the highest since February after a
larger-than-expected decline in U.S. crude inventories. Brent
crude LCOc1 rose 1.27% to $57.30. API/S
Oil prices were also supported after Saudi Arabia said it
plans to cut output by an extra 1 million barrels per day in
February and March. Some investors were monitoring developments in Washington
after at least three Republicans said they would join Democrats
in a vote expected on Wednesday to impeach President Donald
Trump over the recent turmoil in the U.S. Capitol. With seven days remaining in his term in office, Trump faces
impeachment over accusations that he incited insurrection in a
speech to his followers last week before hundreds of them
stormed the Capitol, leaving five dead. Trump says his speech
was appropriate.
An impeachment trial could proceed even after Trump leaves
office on Jan. 20, but analysts say they don't expect any
further political turmoil in Washington to affect markets.
"Markets since the election have been quite strong because
uncertainty factor has been removed," said Peter Essele, head of
portfolio management at Commonwealth Financial Network in
Boston.
Yields on benchmark 10-year U.S. government debt US10YT=RR
fell to 1.1240% on Wednesday, down from an almost one-year high
of 1.1870% reached in the previous session after a well-received
auction of new 10-year notes.
The yield curve US2US10=TWEB , which had reached the
steepest since May 2017 on expectations for big fiscal stimulus
under a new Democratic administration, narrowed slightly to 97.5
basis points.
The dollar nursed losses on Wednesday as a retreat in U.S.
yields snuffed out its recent rebound.
Against the yen JPY=D3 , the greenback fell 0.12% to
103.65. The dollar also edged lower to $1.3683 against the
British pound GBP=D3 .
Safe-haven spot gold XAU= added 0.2% to $1,860.13 an
ounce.
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Global assets http://tmsnrt.rs/2jvdmXl
Global currencies vs. dollar http://tmsnrt.rs/2egbfVh
Emerging markets http://tmsnrt.rs/2ihRugV
MSCI All Country Wolrd Index Market Cap http://tmsnrt.rs/2EmTD6j
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