SINGAPORE (Reuters) – Asian stocks rose on Thursday, with the Nikkei breaching a new 34-year peak, while the dollar took a breather near a three-month high as markets assess when the Federal Reserve is likely to start its easing cycle after a run of strong economic data.
Regional currencies were still reeling from a hotter-than-expected U.S. inflation reading, which saw traders further scale back expectations of early interest rate cuts by the Federal Reserve.
Bullion prices took some relief from mild losses in the dollar, which consolidated in overnight trade after racing to three-month highs earlier this week. The greenback is now likely to see more near-term gains, as traders began further scaling back expectations for early rate cuts by the Federal Reserve.
Bitcoin is currently trading around $51,770, its highest level since December 2021. The rise has taken its market cap to $1 trillion. Ethereum, the second-largest cryptocurrency, is up close to 4% at the time of writing, trading at around $2,746.
The best performers of the session on the S&P/ASX 200 were Altium Ltd (ASX:ALU), which rose 28.91% or 14.82 points to trade at 66.08 at the close. Meanwhile, Appen Ltd (ASX:APX) added 10.17% or 0.03 points to end at 0.33 and Mesoblast Ltd (ASX:MSB) was up 9.09% or 0.03 points to 0.30 in late trade.
Consumer price inflation – which was higher in Britain than in other rich economies until recently – is expected to fall further in the coming months, paving the way for the BoE to start cutting borrowing costs from their 16-year high.
The dollar fell 0.14% against the yen to 150.57, and was not too far from a three-month high hit against the Japanese currency on Tuesday. The dollar has added about 10 yen in price since the start of this year.
Most Asian currencies nursed steep losses on Wednesday, while the dollar hovered near three-month highs after stronger-than-expected U.S. inflation data brewed more fears that the Federal Reserve will keep interest rates higher for longer.
The yellow metal saw extended losses after spot prices slid below the closely-watched $2,000 an ounce support on Tuesday, with analysts warning of more potential declines after the loss of the key support level.
Despite the downgrade, the firm acknowledges GoDaddy’s approximately 50% stock appreciation since the third-quarter report of 2023. This surge is credited to management’s focus on profitability improvements and strategies aimed at enhancing shareholder value. These factors are expected to continue providing support to the stock’s valuation.
