US stocks rise on tech outlook as yen rebounds / Photo: © AFP
US stocks rise on tech outlook as yen rebounds
The yen rebounded Monday from a 34-year low against the dollar after what some traders speculate could have been the first intervention by Japanese authorities to support the weakening currency since late 2022.
Meanwhile, US shares opened higher as last week's tech rally continued, led by Tesla after its founder Elon Musk won key security clearances during a trip to China.
In Asia, the yen sank to 160.17 to the dollar in choppy but thin holiday trading, before suddenly bouncing back as high as 154.54.
The yen's initial drop "was met by a wave of dollar sellers," said David Morrison, senior market analyst at Trade Nation.
"It's unclear whether the BoJ (Bank of Japan) has intervened directly or not, but the dollar is down this morning, while there has been little movement in crosses outside of those including either US dollars or Japanese yen."
Masato Kanda, Japan's vice minister of finance for international affairs, made no comment to reporters on Monday.
The Japanese currency had come under pressure again after the Bank of Japan refused to tighten monetary policy further at its meeting last week.
At the same time, forecast-topping US inflation reports have dented hopes for the US Federal Reserve to cut its interest rates this year.
Japanese officials have repeatedly said they are ready to step in if there were wild speculative movements.
On Wall Street, all the main equity indexes rose as the prospect of continued strong earnings from tech companies outweighed repeated delays in when the Fed could start cutting interest rate cuts.
Tesla jumped 11 percent after its locally produced models were listed among electric vehicles that meet China's data security requirements for smart cars during Musk's whistlestop visit to the world's biggest car market.
Late last week, Microsoft and Google owner Alphabet released forecast-beating earnings, soothing worries that this year's tech-fuelled global markets rally might have been overdone.
The US Federal Reserve's policymaking committee begins a two-day meeting on Tuesday, and will announce its decision Wednesday, with hardly anyone expecting a rate cut given a succession of stubbornly high inflation reports.
"The signals of the Fed speakers into this meeting were uniform –- high for longer until they have confidence from inflation data dropping," said Bob Savage, head of market strategy at BNY Mellon.
Most Asian equity markets closed higher Monday, following through from last week's rally on Wall Street.
Eurozone stocks diverged, but London struck another record peak with mining giant Anglo-American up 1.5 percent after rejecting a bid from Australia's BHP, which is expected to come back with a higher offer.
In Amsterdam, Philips was up 38 percent after it reached a settlement to put an end to litigation in the United States over recalled sleep machines.
- Key figures around 1040 GMT -
Dollar/yen: DOWN at 156.49 yen from 158.33 yen on Friday
New York - Dow: UP 0.3 percent at 38,346.87 points
New York - S&P 500: UP 0.4 percent at 5,119.74
New York - Nasdaq Composite: UP 0.5 percent at 16,012.61
London - FTSE 100: UP 0.3 percent at 8,161.81
Paris - CAC 40: FLAT at 8,089.43
Frankfurt - DAX: DOWN 0.2 percent at 18,124.64
EURO STOXX 50: DOWN 0.3 percent at 4,992.21
Hong Kong - Hang Seng Index: UP 0.5 percent at 17,746.91 (close)
Shanghai - Composite: UP 0.8 percent at 3,113.04 (close)
Tokyo - Nikkei 225: Closed for a holiday
Euro/dollar: UP at $1.0700 from $1.0693
Pound/dollar: UP at $1.2521 from $1.2493
Euro/pound: DOWN at 85.46 pence from 85.59 pence
Brent North Sea Crude: DOWN 0.7 percent at $88.84 per barrel
West Texas Intermediate: DOWN 0.8 percent at $83.33 per barrel
A.M.Ruiz--ESF
