Asian stocks advanced, fueled by China’s support for its equities market and remarks by Jerome Powell that the Federal Reserve would “proceed carefully” on whether to raise interest rates again. Chinese equities rallied as the government lowered stamp duty on stock trades for the first time since 2008 and pledged to slow the pace of initial public offerings.
Treasuries were little changed during Powell’s long-awaited speech in Jackson Hole, but yields pushed up after it concluded as the longer-for-higher rates message appeared to sink in on Friday. As Treasury yields stay high and the Fed is likely to hike one more time this year, “high quality fixed income still presents a strong risk-adjusted investment opportunity,” said Aninda Mitra, a macro and investment strategist at BNY Mellon Investment Management in Singapore.