Asian stocks on a relief rally, Nikkei 225 - top-gainer

The stocks on the Asian bourses advanced on Wednesday, tracking a positive close on the Wall Street overnight, while ongoing retreat in the treasury yields amid stalling Trump effect, also offers respite to the region’s indices.

The Japanese Nikkei 225 index emerged the beat performer so far this session, as the exporters continue to cheer yen’s relative weakness amid a sharp USD appreciation following a Trump victory and Dec rate hike hopes. USD/JPY now consolidates the solid rally to fresh 5-month highs reached at 109.36 a day before.

While the Australian benchmark, ASX 200, benefits from higher gold and oil prices, which provided relief to the resource and energy sector stocks. While investors take profits off the table ahead of the highly influential Australian labour market report due tomorrow.

Further, the CBOE Volatility Index (VIX), a fear gauge, drops almost 8%, suggesting risk-on remains in full swing and hence, pushes the Asian equities into the green zone for the first time in four days.

Meanwhile, Japan’s Nikkei 225 jumps +1% to 17,850, the Australian S&P/ASX 200 also trades +0.20% higher around 5,333. The Chinese equities trade modestly flat, with the benchmark Shanghai Composite index wavering just ahead of 3,200 mark, while CSI300 index trades almost unchanged around 3,430. Hong Kong markets also trade dead flat around 22,320 levels.