Global bond markets are tense, Asian tech shares get a lift from Alphabet
Sydney — Global bond markets were tense on Tuesday amid talk of central bank tightening and the risk of a robust reading on US economic growth later in the week. Asian tech stocks drew support from stellar results from internet giant Alphabet. Shares in Google’s parent climbed 3.6% after hours to hit a record high, valuing the group at $870bn. That made up for an otherwise dull day on Wall Street, where the Dow Jones industrial average eased 0.06%, while the S&P 500 gained 0.18% and the Nasdaq 0.28%. In Asia, Shanghai shares seemed to get a boost from news that Beijing would adopt a more "vigorous" fiscal policy, including company tax cuts. Chinese blue chips rose 1.6% to a one-month high, while MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan added 0.47%. Japan’s Nikkei edged up 0.5% even as a disappointing reading on local factory activity suggested the threat of a trade war was starting to bite. Bond bulls were still smarting from speculation that the Bank of Japan is c...
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