Asia stocks rally, on US yield rebound and PBOC's policy reform

Following U.S. Treasury yields’ rebound from last week’s plunge,coupled with news of a key policy reform in China, Asia’s stocks inched higher Monday afternoon (Asia time).

The Shanghai composite climbed +1.47%, while the Shenzhen component gained +2.39%. The Shenzhen composite added +2.446%.

On Saturday, the People’s Bank of China announced a critical policy reform, as it intends to improve the process of forming the loan prime rate this month onward, in a way that’s apparently salutary  to the economy.  It said it will use “market-based reform methods” to reduce real lending rates – in a bid to spruce up economic growth in the nation. China’s economy has been plagued with slowing growth, with its ongoing trade war with the U.S. only worsening the situation apparently.

Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index also rose +1.87%, on the back of life insurer AIA’s stock climb of +2.57%.

In aggregate, the MSCI Asia ex-Japan index rose 1.02%.

Japan’s Nikkei 225 gained +0.66% as shares of convenience store operator FamilyMart surged +11.24%, while the Topix added +0.51%. South Korea’s Kospi advanced +0.72%.

Australia’s S&P/ASX 200  gained +0.74%.

Last Wednesday, concerns of recessionary forces in the U.S. surfaced as the yield on the 10-year Treasury note briefly dropped below the rate for the 2-year. The U.S. 30-year Treasury yield dropped to a record low and the yield on the benchmark 10-year notes fell to a three-year low last Thursday – a situation implying investors' rush to ‘safe haven’ U.S. fixed-income, while also heightening fears of yield curve inversion. Inversion has preceded an economic recession several times in the past.

But U.S. long-term Treasury yields got a boost last Friday, following reports that Germany would stimulate spending by issuing more debt. When a government increases its bond sales, the yields tend to go up to create demand for the additional supply of bonds. The yield on the benchmark 10-year Treasury note was at 1.5826%, while the rate on the 30-year Treasury bond was at 2.071%.