Sydney: Asian share markets rose on Thursday after Britain's central bank launched an emergency bond buying programme to stabilise a furious sell-off in gilts, though trade was skittish and sterling remained under pressure.
The Bank of England (Boe) said it will buy as much as £5 billion ($5.4 billion) a day of long-dated government bonds until Oct. 14. It spent about £1 billion on Wednesday and 30-year gilt yields fell 105 basis points, the biggest drop ever according to Refinitiv records stretching back to 1992.
The move buoyed sterling and offered some salve to a fractious mood in markets, but by mid-morning in Tokyo the pound was already struggling for support and down 0.6% to $1.0818.
MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan was up 1.5% and eyeing its best session in a month. Japan's Nikkei rose 0.9%.
US stocks end higher
(For a Reuters live blog on U.S., UK and European stock markets, click or type LIVE/ in a news window.) Apple drops on concerns about iPhone demand Treasury prices rebound after BoE decision S&P 500 records largest one-day gain since Aug. 10 Indexes: Dow +1.88%, S&P 500 +1.97%, Nasdaq +2.05% (Updates with price moves following end of session) By Noel Randewich and Shreyashi Sanyal Sept 28 (Reuters) - Wall Street ended sharply higher on Wednesday following its recent sell-off, helped by falling Treasury yields, while Apple dropped on concerns about demand for iPhones.
The S&P 500 recorded its first gain in seven sessions after closing on Tuesday at its lowest since late 2020. Interest rate-sensitive megacaps Microsoft, Amazon and Meta Platforms rallied as the yield on 10-year Treasury notes fell over 0.26 percentage point in its biggest one-day drop since 2009.
Investors have been keenly listening to comments from Federal Reserve officials about the path of monetary policy, with Atlanta Fed President Raphael Bostic on Wednesday backing another 75-basis-point interest rate hike in November.
The Fed will likely get borrowing costs to where they need to be by early next year, Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago President Charles Evans said.
US stocks have been battered in 2022 by worries that an aggressive push by the Fed to raise borrowing costs could throw the economy into a downturn.
US Treasuries rebound
US Treasuries rebounded in sympathy with gilts overnight, and benchmark 10-year yields, which had pipped 4% a day ago, were down more than 20 bps to sit at 3.7472%.
Wall Street rallied, too, with the S&P 500 snapping a six-day losing streak to surge nearly 2%.
The mood gave pause to the US dollar's march higher and the dollar index had its worst session in 2-1/2 years as the greenback recoiled from lofty heights. It was soon trading firmly again, however, in Asia on Thursday.
Pause for dollar's upward spiral
The dollar index was up 0.1% to 113.12, within striking distance of Wednesday's 20-year high of 114.78. The euro fell about 0.5% to $0.9695.
The Australian dollar, meanwhile, got a brief lift on Thursday and traded just above $0.65 after a new data series from the statistics bureau showed some high inflation readings for July and August.
The dollar's pullback helped oil and gold make gains, which were held into the Asia day. Brent crude futures rose 0.2% to $89.50 a barrel. Spot gold was steady at $1,656 an ounce.
