Asian shares hit 10-year highs on Tuesday and the U.S. dollar headed higher as the damage from Hurricane Irma proved to be far less than expected. The hurricane was downgraded to a tropical storm on Monday and though it knocked out the power for millions of Florida residents, the damage to property and infrastructure was not as devastating as predicted.
On Wall Street on Monday, the S&P 500 closed at a record high of 2,488, up over 1 percent, and Asian shares were eager to follow suit on Tuesday morning. The Shanghai composite was up 0.07 percent as of 12:31 p.m. HK/SIN, and South Korea’s Kospi was up 0.15 percent. Australia’s ASX 200 enjoyed a 0.72 percent rise.
Also increasing risk sentiment was the fact that North Korea did not test-fire any more nuclear missiles over the weekend as originally expected.
Currency Market Movements
The dollar was higher against most of its primary trading partners near midday of Tuesday’s Asian trading session. The greenback was trading at 109.38 yen, a significant increase from Friday’s low of 107.32. The dollar also continued strengthening against the Chinese yuan after China’s central bank nixed two measures on Monday that were intended to support the yuan when it was under significant selling pressure. The yuan was trading at 6.5432 against the dollar in early trade. The euro was flat against the dollar.
There are no major news or economic announcements expected this week so traders may be shifting their strategies towards fundamentals in the near term.