Asian Stocks Track Record-Setting S&P 500 Higher as Bonds Climb

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Asian stocks rose, set for their first weekly gain this month, after the dollar’s retreat helped send the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index to a fresh record. Bonds tracked gains in the U.S. and Europe, while oil pared its advance.

The MSCI Asia Pacific Index added 0.4 percent by 9:20 a.m. in Tokyo, as benchmark gauges from Japan to Australia climbed. S&P 500 futures were little changed after technology shares drove the index up 1.1 percent to an all-time high. The Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index was near a four-month low. Yields on 10-year Japanese notes fell for the first time in four days as similar maturity Treasuries held onto their rebound.

Bond markets took a breather from the selloff that has erased more than $400 billion in value the past three weeks, unsettling equities. Prospects the weaker dollar will make American products more competitive helped stoke the S&P 500’s first increase this week, with disappointing economic data damping the outlook for higher U.S. interest rates.

Source : Bloomberg