On Thursday, Asian markets remained subdued as investors awaited China's trade data to assess the state of its economy. The yen stabilized after a three-day decline amid Japan's discussion of potential currency intervention.
Later in the day, the Bank of England (BoE) will announce its interest rate policy, with attention on the possibility of a June rate cut following Sweden's Riksbank decision to reduce rates, highlighting Europe's contrast with the U.S. Federal Reserve.
MSCI's Asia-Pacific index outside Japan inched up 0.1%, near a 15-month high reached earlier, supported by Fed Chair Jerome Powell's indication of forthcoming policy easing.
Investors are eagerly awaiting U.S. consumer inflation data next Wednesday, seeking insights into the Fed's policy direction.
Chinese blue chips rose 0.6% and Hong Kong's Hang Seng index gained 0.7%, buoyed by a 2% surge in technology shares and a recovery in Chinese property developers.
Japan's Nikkei climbed 0.3%, while Nasdaq futures slipped 0.1%, weighed down by Uber's 5.7% decline after the company issued a pessimistic forecast following a surprise quarterly loss.
The Japanese yen steadied at 155.56 per dollar after a recent decline, spurred by comments from top currency diplomat Masato Kanda about the potential for unlimited reserves in currency intervention.
In the Treasury market, yields remained steady ahead of the U.S. inflation report next week, with the 2-year yield at 4.8449% and the 10-year yield at 4.4963%.
Oil prices saw a slight increase on Thursday, recovering from two-month lows, with Brent futures up 0.2% to $83.76 a barrel, and U.S. crude rising 0.3% to $79.24 a barrel.
Gold prices edged 0.1% higher to $2,311.23 per ounce.
Paraphrasing text from "Reuters" all rights reserved by the original author.
