By The Financial District

Jun 15, 20212 min

ASIAN STOCKS MIXED WHILE U.S. SHARES ZOOM

Asian stocks traded mixed Tuesday, June 15, 2021, after their US peers closed at a record and a bond rally stalled ahead of a key Federal Reserve meeting, Andreea Papuc reported for Bloomberg News.

Japanese shares gained, while Australian stocks outperformed after a holiday. Benchmarks in Hong Kong and China slipped as they too reopened after a break Monday.

US futures were little changed up after gains in technology shares pushed the S&P 500 to an all-time closing high. Still, three stocks fell for every one that rose. The 10-year Treasury yield was steady under 1.5% after rising Monday.

The dollar was flat. Bitcoin continued to gyrate amid a barrage of comments, briefly climbing above $41,000 only to pull back. The digital currency got a boost after veteran hedge fund manager Paul Tudor Jones re-endorsed the coin in a television interview.

Investors are on the lookout for signals from the Fed about a timetable for scaling back emergency monetary stimulus. Expectations are that the central bank will reaffirm the pace of bond purchases this week, even if it delivers projections for interest-rate liftoff in 2023, according to economists surveyed by Bloomberg. The decision is due Wednesday.

S&P 500 futures rose 0.1% as of 10:32 a.m. in Tokyo. The S&P 500 rose 0.2% to a record high. Nasdaq 100 futures rose 0.2%. The Nasdaq 100 rose 0.9% to a record high. Topix index rose 0.6%. Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 Index rose 1%.

South Korea’s Kospi index was little changed. Hang Seng Index fell 0.1%. Shanghai Composite Index fell 0.1%.

The Japanese yen traded at 110.06 per dollar. The offshore yuan was at 6.4048 per dollar. The Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index was flat.

The euro was little changed at $1.2117. The yield on 10-year Treasuries held at 1.49%. Australia’s 10-year yield rose one basis point to 1.50%.

West Texas Intermediate crude rose 0.7% to $71.32 a barrel. Gold slipped 0.2% to $1,862.24 an ounce, Steve Matthews, Kyungjin Yoo, Vildana Hajric and Claire Ballentine also reported for Bloomberg News.

WEEKLY FEATURE : PAL READY TO SOAR WITH PANDEMIC