* U.S. yields bounce after report of $2 trillion stimulus
plan
* Nikkei +1.4% to fresh 30-year high
* Asian stock markets: https://tmsnrt.rs/2zpUAr4
By Tom Westbrook and Chibuike Oguh
SINGAPORE/NEW YORK, Jan 14 (Reuters) - Bonds slipped,
Japanese stocks jumped to a three-decade high and other Asian
equities loitered near record peaks on Thursday as investors
focused on U.S. stimulus prospects and extended bets on global
recovery and growth.
Japan's Nikkei .N225 rose 1.4% to its highest point since
August 1990. It is up more than 8% in three weeks. MSCI's
broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan
.MIAPJ0000PUS was steady and just a whisker short of Monday's
all-time high. .T
U.S. Treasuries, which had climbed overnight after some
reassurances that the U.S. Federal Reserve would keep buying
bonds, were sold again after CNN reported that President-elect
Joe Biden is mulling a stimulus package as large as $2 trillion.
The yield on benchmark 10-year Treasuries US10YT=RR , which
rises when prices fall, lifted 1.7 basis points in Asia. US/
Ten-year Treasury yields are up more than 19 basis points
this year as investors bet on Biden's borrow-and-spend agenda
being able to clear a Democrat-controlled Congress - and as
worry creeps in about when the Fed's support might taper off.
S&P 500 futures ESc1 rose 0.2% and EuroSTOXX 50 futures
STXEc1 rose 0.3%.
"The number one question for global markets and equities
will be when will the Fed start tapering," said Frank Benzimra,
head of Asia equity strategy at Societe Generale in Hong Kong.
"This is where you can get some concern... but at the moment
it is something that is a bit premature. We are in a context
where you have growth accelerating, economic indicators are
good, and in the U.S. the increased probability of fiscal
stimulus."
Currency markets are taking a little more of a wait-and-see
approach, as investors are short dollars and wondering whether
the eventual tapering might limit the greenback's decline. FRX/
The dollar rose 0.2% to 104.12 yen JPY= with U.S. yields
after the CNN report, which cited one lawmaker in contact with
Biden's advisers as its source. Biden is due to announce his
economic plans on Thursday.
Traders are also anxious to hear from Fed Chairman Jerome
Powell on Thursday, where any hint of an eventual tapering could
send yields surging once more.
The Australian and New Zealand dollars steadied after
slipping a little overnight, with the Aussie AUD= at $0.7733
and the kiwi NZD= at $0.7174. The euro EUR= nursed broad but
modest losses at $1.2141 and 126.3 yen EURJPY= .
EXPORTS BOOM
Stellar economic statistics, meanwhile, kept flowing in
North Asia. China's exports grew more than expected in December
- pointing to solid global demand - while machinery orders rose
for a second straight month in Japan. Chinese blue chips .CSI300 eased from a 13-year peak hit
on Wednesday as investors took some profits. .SS
Hong Kong listed shares of tech giants Alibaba 9988.HK and
Tencent 0700.HK rose after sources told Reuters and the Wall
Street Journal that plans to extend a U.S. investment ban to the
stocks had been scrapped. In Washington, the Democrat-controlled House of
Representatives impeached President Donald Trump for a second
time. But markets have been more focused on his attacks on
Chinese companies.
Trump bolstered a ban on U.S. investments in Chinese
companies deemed to be linked with the military by clarifying
late on Wednesday that American investors cannot own them after
November 2021. In commodity markets oil futures nursed modest losses as
fresh surges in coronavirus cases stoke worries about more
lockdowns and lower energy demand. Brent crude futures LCOc1
slipped 0.1% to $55.91 a barrel and U.S. crude futures CLc1
fell by the same margin to $52.81 a barrel.
Gold XAU= , which pays no interest, has suffered as U.S.
yields have climbed and it traded 0.2% lower at $1,838 an ounce
- well below a two-month peak of $1,959 hit a week ago. GOL/
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Global assets http://tmsnrt.rs/2jvdmXl
Global currencies vs. dollar http://tmsnrt.rs/2egbfVh
Emerging markets http://tmsnrt.rs/2ihRugV
MSCI All Country World Index Market Cap http://tmsnrt.rs/2EmTD6j
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