China stocks rose, with the blue-chip index up 0.23 per cent while Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index spiking 1.3 per cent higher. — Reuters picSINGAPORE, May 31 — Asian stocks rose today and were poised for the fourth month of gains, while the dollar drifted lower, keeping the yen steady as investors await inflation readings from Europe and the US that will likely dictate the path of interest rates globally.
MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan rose 0.55 per cent, pushing away from the three-week low hit yesterday. The index is set for a 1.4 per cent decline for the week but is up 2.7 per cent in May, rising for the fourth straight month.Japan’s Nikkei was up 0.20 per cent and is flat for the month. China stocks also rose, with the blue-chip index up 0.23 per cent while Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index spiking 1.3 per cent higher.
Federal Reserve policymakers continue to expect inflation to fall this year even as the labour market stays strong, leaving them in no hurry to cut the policy rate from the 5.25 per cent-5.5 per cent range they have kept it in since last July. The Japanese authorities have been relatively restrained in their recent verbal warnings, possibly waiting for weaker US economic data and a shift in Fed policy to support the yen, according to Charu Chanana, head of currency strategy at Saxo.