The MSCI Asia Pacific Index – Hong Kong reopened today – rose again, by 0,7% in the second part of the day. The Nikkei gained 0,4%, with the yen depreciating slightly to 101,6 against the dollar. Wall Street's double record yesterday (for both the Dow Jones and the S&P 500) is based on the feeling, also confirmed by yesterday's data, that the US economy is strong enough to support future increases in the cost of money. And this optimism is spreading to other markets, both in Asia and in Europe. In China, the monetary authorities, continuing their policy of taking small steps to support the economy, changed the way they calculate the mortgage-to-cash deposit ratio for loans for house purchase, so as to allow banks to lend more.
The euro is little changed compared to yesterday (1,367 against the dollar), and so are gold (1326 $/ounce) and oil (105,4 $/b for the WTI). Stock futures on London and New York are stable.
