SYDNEY, RAW – Stocks and commodities have risen in relief and the dollar hit a six-week low, after Federal Reserve chair Jerome Powell sounded less hawkish than expected in testimony to the US Congress.

Bonds have also steadied after beginning the year with a rout, though a new test looms later in the day when US inflation data is expected to come in red hot.

MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan rose one per cent to a one-month high on Wednesday, led by a 3.5 per cent jump for tech stocks in Hong Kong.

Japan’s Nikkei rose 1.9 per cent.

Powell told a congressional hearing that the economy could handle the COVID-19 surge and tighter monetary policy.

 

Top Australian Brokers

 

But he did not go into any new details beyond what traders already gleaned from the minutes of last months’ Fed meeting and that turned out to be enough to staunch selling in the Treasury market and US tech stocks.

“One of our main takeaways … was that the sense of urgency on tightening has not obviously heightened compared to the last time we heard from Powell in December,” analysts at NatWest markets said in a note.

The Nasdaq and S&P 500 recorded their best sessions of 2022, rising 1.4 per cent and 0.9 per cent, respectively. S&P 500 futures were steady in early Asia trade.

In the bond market, benchmark 10-year Treasury yields were steady at 1.7374 per cent and have pulled back about seven basis points (bps) from an almost two-year high hit on Monday.

Commodities also caught a boost and Brent crude futures leapt 3.5 per cent overnight and inched above $US84 ($A117) per barrel for the first time in two months on Wednesday. US crude rose 3.8 per cent overnight and was last up 0.3 per cent to $US81.45 a barrel.

One note of caution was sounded and shares in vaccine-makers Moderna and BioNTech were dumped when the World Health Organisation said that more research was needed about the efficacy of vaccines against Omicron.

Chinese data showed factory gate price rises are slowing – perhaps a clue that global price pressures could ease.

The greenback fell through its 200-day moving average against a basket of currencies overnight and dropped a touch further to a six-week low of 95.563 on Wednesday.

At $1.1367, it is at the bottom of its recent range against the euro. It has steadied at 115.29 yen but fell overnight against the Aussie and kiwi.

“There is already a lot of hawkish news in the price,” said Rabobank currency strategist Jane Foley.

“The dollar may need to see some pullback and fresh news on the interest rate front before finding direction.”