Wednesday, 10 May 2017

Asia stocks rise for third day on earnings; dollar stalls on Comey sacking

Asian stocks edged higher for a third consecutive day on Wednesday as investors focused on strong corporate earnings and the dollar gave back some of its recent gains.
U.S. President Donald Trump's abrupt dismissal of FBI Director James Comey prompted some unwinding of risky bets in early Asian trading but strategists said investors were cheered by a strong slate of corporate earnings, reflecting the cyclical rebound in the first quarter of 2017 was still in place.

European stocks are set to follow Asia's example, with major indices set for a broadly flat start according to index futures.

With results in for the majority of the companies on the S&P 500, estimated Q1 earnings growth is now at 14.5 percent, highest since Q3 of 2011, Thomson Reuters data shows with roughly 75 pct of companies are beating analysts' expectations.

That has helped Asia as well, with 12-month forward earnings per share for the MSCI index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan rising to its highest level in more than three years.

MSCI's Asia ex Japan index rose 0.3 percent after posting modest gains in the previous session. It hit a two-year high last week.

South Korean stocks led losers as investors took profits after liberal leader Moon Jae-in was elected president, while losses in Australia's big banks weighed on the broader market after the government levied taxes on the lenders to help balance the budget. and

Chinese stocks edged higher, shrugging off news that showed April's producer price inflation cooled more than expected, with investors stepping into the market to scoop up bargains after a recent fall.

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