Asian Stock Market: Hopes of further stimulus, strong economy favor bulls ahead of key data/events

• Shares in Asia-Pacific cheer hopes of faster vaccinations, early stimulus.
• Upbeat Aussie GDP superseded second-tier figures from China, Japan and New Zealand.
• UK budget, US aid package progress in the Senate will offer immediate directions before Fed’s Powell and American jobs report.

Asian equities stay firmer despite Wall Street’s downbeat performance as Australia’s GDP and risk-positive signs from the US and the UK favor risks during early Wednesday. Also favoring the mood could be the absence of any disappointment from the economic calendar as well as hopes of a further rate cut from China. Additionally, Japan’s likely easing of the coronavirus (COVID-19)-led emergency from Tokyo adds to the mildly positive market sentiment.

On the contrary, cautious sentiment ahead of the key British budget, coupled with a lack of major data, keeps traders at bay.

Against this backdrop, MSCI’s index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan prints 0.75% intraday gains whereas Japan’s Nikkei 225 rises 0.25% by the press time.

Australia’s ASX 200 is up around 0.75% as Aussie Q4 GDP beats estimates while rising 3.1% QoQ. Stocks in China and Hong Kong gain around 1.5% amid chatters of the People’s Bank of China’s (PBOC) reserve requirement ratio (RRR) cut.

New Zealand’s NZX 50 buck the trend with 0.40% intraday loss as second-tier data at home eases. Though, stocks from Indonesia, South Korea and India remain on the front-foot while following the market’s mood.

Moving on, S&P 500 Futures part ways from Wall Street’s downbeat performance as US President Biden prepones the time to immunize all the American adults. Though, the US 10-year Treasury yields fail to portray notable moves while waiting for Thursday’s speech of Fed Chair Jerome Powell after recent Fedspeak favors the bulls.

Looking forward, UK’s budget headlines and the US ISM Services PMI can offer immediate direction and are likely to keep the latest optimism on the table. However, high hopes from Powell and Friday’s US employment figures for February become the area of concern.