"The fear of contagion and the repeated mantra of isolated incidents has inevitably led to 'shy' and yield seeking deposits seeking to bank with the U.S. Treasury," they said, referring to the broad rally in bonds. Two-year Treasury yields dropped 18.7 basis points overnight and were steady at 3.9221% in Asia. Ten-year yields fell nearly 12 bps, their sharpest drop in more than a month. Yields fall when bond prices rise. Elsewhere Australian inflation eased from 33-year highs, nudging the Aussie dollar to a six-week low at $0.6612 and firming up market wagers that the central bank will keep rates on hold at its meeting next week. The euro was last at $1.0975. Gold was pinned just below $2,000 an ounce. Brent crude futures hovered at $80.98 a barrel having dropped almost 4% overnight with the risk-averse mood. <^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ World FX rates YTD Global asset performance Asian stock markets ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^> (Editing by Sam Holmes)
SINGAPORE, April 26 (Reuters) - U.S. stock futures
bounced as buybacks and earnings beats boosted tech giants in
after-hours trade, although Asian shares wallowed at one-month
lows on Wednesday, with investors turning nervous on the outlook
for the world's two biggest economies.
Nasdaq futures were up 1.4% and S&P 500 futures up 0.5% following better-than-expected profits at
Microsoft and a $70 billion stock buyback at Google
parent Alphabet . Both stocks rose after the bell.
However, U.S. markets fell sharply overnight and MSCI's
broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan slipped 0.4% in early trade as investors took
stock of softening U.S. data and fresh regional bank jitters.
First Republic Bank shares were sold to a record low
after the bank disclosed a $100 billion plunge in deposits. A
source told Reuters the bank is considering asset sales.
The Wall Street Journal's "Fed whisperer" Nick Timiraos
wrote an article titled "Why the banking mess isn't over,"
including comments from former Dallas Fed President Robert
Kaplan saying bank issues have a long way to run.
The S&P 500 dropped 1.6% overnight and the Nasdaq nearly 2%. Bonds rallied sharply and interest rate
futures markets priced in a higher chance of Fed cuts later in
the year.
The U.S. dollar rose broadly against most majors, save for
the safe-haven yen.
"Clearly, the fear factor drove dollar gains," said analysts
at Mizuho.
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