Mostly Higher In Asia

Most major Asia-Pac equity indices are firmer at writing, following a positive lead from Wall St. The broad move higher was facilitated by comments from Fed Chair Powell on Wednesday, as he backed a measured 25bp rate hike in March. Lingering inflation/stagflation worry remained evident throughout the session, with high-beta stocks struggling once again. Commodity-linked stocks led gains across the region as commodities continued to rally in Asia, led by the major crude benchmarks, which hit another round of fresh cycle highs early in the session.

• The ASX200 was 0.5% better off, closing higher for a fifth consecutive session. The commodities-sensitive index has caught a strong bid on the well-documented widespread surge in commodity prices, with the ASX200’s materials and energy sub-indices 2.6% higher on the day, while the energy sub-group is ~8.6% firmer week-to-date.
• The CSI300 was the sole loser amongst major regional indices, sitting 0.3% worse off at writing. A broad rally in the energy (+1.8%) and utilities (+1.2%) sub-indices was unable to offset declines in the richly valued consumer staples sub-index (-2.0%), with steep losses seen in large cap liquor stocks such as Kweichow Moutai Co (-2.5%) and Luzhou Laojiao (-4.4%).
• U.S. e-mini equity index futures are virtually unchanged overnight after paring earlier losses.