By Wayne Cole
SYDNEY, June 9 (Reuters) – Asian stock markets eked out a rally on Tuesday and oil prices came off highs after Israel and Iran said they would halt attacks on each other for now, while ever-hopeful investors bought the latest dip in semiconductor stocks.
Analysts cautioned the bounce was narrowly based with 60% of the S&P 500 finishing in the red overnight even as the overall index edged up. Share futures for Wall Street and Europe were also lower in early trading.
Higher bond yields continued to test stretched equity valuations, with shipping through the Strait of Hormuz still badly restricted.
“Inflation remains sticky enough that 46 of 68 global central banks are overshooting targets, which helps explain why bond markets are repricing for tighter policy, and why long-duration assets, private credit, and several EM currencies are struggling,” analysts at BofA said in a note.
“Our Global Breadth Rule shows nearly half of equity markets already overbought, led by Korea, Taiwan and Finland.”
South Korea’s share market climbed 3.4%, having sunk more than 8% on Monday after a run of spectacular gains left valuations stretched and retail investors with extended margin positions.
Japan’s Nikkei firmed 0.9%, after losing 3.9% the previous session, while MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan rose 1.5%.
Chinese blue chips added 0.4% as trade data showed exports rose 19.4% in May and imports climbed 27.4%, with both beating median forecasts. The strength shows China’s success in finding new markets in the face of U.S. tariffs and other trade hurdles, even as domestic demand struggles.
For Europe, EUROSTOXX 50 futures and DAX futures both fell 0.4%, while FTSE futures dipped 0.2%.
S&P 500 futures and Nasdaq futures were little changed after edging higher overnight. The next big test for tech will be results from Oracle on Wednesday.
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Apple shares failed to get any initial boost from a long-delayed AI overhaul of Siri, unveiled at its annual Worldwide Developers Conference.
ChatGPT-maker OpenAI confidentially filed for a U.S. initial public offering on Monday, joining rival Anthropic in a trillion-dollar rush for equity financing.
Bond markets continued to struggle as the strong May U.S. payrolls report pushed investors to price in more risk of rate hikes from the Federal Reserve. Data on U.S. consumer prices due Wednesday are expected to show surging energy costs kept pushing headline inflation higher in May.
Futures imply around a 60% chance of a Fed rate rise as soon as October, and a quarter-point move is almost fully priced for December.