Asia stocks hit three-and-a-half-month high on Dow's surge, dollar slips

Source: REUTERS, January 25, 3017

Asian stocks rose to 3-1/2-month highs on Thursday, cheered by the Dow Jones Industrial Average breaching the 20,000-level for the first time, though concerns about U.S. President Donald Trump's protectionist stance kept the dollar on the defensive.
MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan .MIAPJ0000PUS rose 0.7 percent to its highest since Oct. 11.
South Korea's Kospi .KS11 advanced 0.9 percent, Hong Kong's Hang Seng .HSI climbed 1.2 percent and Shanghai edged up 0.2 percent.

Japan's Nikkei .N225 brushed aside a stronger yen to rise 1.4 percent.
"Today's excitement mainly comes from strong U.S. stocks overnight, but people are also positive about Japanese companies' earnings especially machinery manufacturers," said Takuya Takahashi, a strategist at Daiwa Securities in Tokyo.
The Dow .DJI closed atop the 20,000 mark for the first time overnight as solid earnings and optimism over Trump's pro-growth initiatives revitalised a post-election rally. [.N]
Safe-haven U.S. Treasuries were duly sold as risk aversion ebbed and the benchmark 10-year note yield US10YT=RR rose to a four-week high on Wednesday. Subdued investor demand at a five-year auction also hurt Treasuries. [US/]
The dollar, which often draws support from higher Treasury yields, failed to follow suit. An index tracking the greenback against a basket of major currencies .DXY slid to a seven-week low of 99.793 on Thursday.
Unlike equities, the currency markets focused more on Trump's trade protectionism and the negative impact it could have on the dollar.
"The problem that the greenback is having right now is two fold - first Trump has been talking down the currency and second, his policies make foreign investors nervous," wrote Kathy Lien, managing director of FX strategy for BK Asset Management.
"Until the market comes to terms with the risk/benefits of Trump policy, the dollar may have a tough time mimicking the one way moves in stocks and bonds."
The dollar was little changed at 113.425 yen JPY= after losing 0.5 percent overnight.
It had soared to a 10-month high of 118.660 in mid-December at the apex of the dollar-boosting Trump trade, when the market focus was on bets of more fiscal stimulus and reflationary measures under the new administration.
The euro was steady at $1.0755 EUR= after gaining 0.2 percent the previous day. The common currency had risen to a 1-1/2-month high of $1.0775 on Tuesday against the struggling dollar.
The pound extended its overnight rally and touched a six-week high of $1.2648 GBP=D4.

Sterling has drawn its latest boost from expectations that British Prime Minister Theresa May's upcoming meeting with Trump would pave the way for a rapid U.S. trade deal, which may offset some of the damage from its looming divorce with the European Union. [GBP/]
In commodities, crude oil prices bounced amid the dollar's weakening after falling the previous day on data showing a build in U.S. crude inventories.
U.S. crude CLc1 was up 0.9 percent at $53.20 a barrel after losing 0.8 percent the previous day. Brent added 0.9 percent to $55.57 a barrel LCOc1.
A weaker greenback tends to favour non-U.S. buyers of dollar-denominated commodities like crude.
Gold was on track for a third straight day of losses as the risk-on mood in the global markets reduced demand for the precious metal. Spot gold XAU= was down 0.1 percent at $1,198.60 an ounce, pulled back from a two-month high of $1,219.59 scaled on Tuesday.
(Reporting by Shinichi Saoshiro; Additional reporting by Ayai Tomisawa in Tokyo; Editing by Shri Navaratnam and Kim Coghill)