Asian stocks rebound, European stocks drop

Gulf Today Report 

Asian stocks rebounded as global bond yields dropped and Chinese shares bounced back after a recent decline.

Japan's Nikkei was little changed while MSCI's ex-Japan Asia-Pacific shares index rose 0.2%, a day after it hit a two-month low. The CSI300 index of mainland China's A-shares rose 0.4%.

Hiroshi Watanabe. Senior economist at Sony Financial Holdings said, "markets are giving full attention to bonds. As earnings are not growing that fast right now, the lofty stock prices we have now will become unsustainable if bond yields rise further and undermine their valuation."  

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Some investors see a real risk of an overheated US economy and higher inflation on the back of planned spending by US President Joe Biden's administration, including a $1.9 trillion stimulus and an even bigger initiative on infrastructure.

European stocks

European stocks declined on Wednesday due to concerns about rising inflation. 

The pan-European STOXX 600 index fell 0.3% by 08:10 GMT, after hitting its highest level since late February 2020 on Tuesday.

The mining, travelling and leisure industries led the decline while telecommunication and real estate recorded gains.