Asian stock market: US civil unrest probes previous relief rally

• Asian equities trade mixed amid risk reset, lack of major data/events.
• US President Donald Trump’s warning to use force dims the earlier optimism on economic restart.
• RBA’s status quo, upbeat Indonesian inflation and South Korea-Japan tension offer background music.

Asian shares fail to keep Monday’s upbeat mood as riots in the US weigh on market sentiment during the pre-European session on Tuesday. The protests in Washington and New York over the alleged police killing of Minnesota’s George Floyd turned severe early in Asia. The same pushed US President Donald Trump to warn over the use of all available resources, military and/or social, to tame the riots that even threatened the life of White House workers off-late.

Against this backdrop, the US 10-year Treasury yields stop the previous run-up to stay pressured near 0.65% whereas the stock futures also part ways from Wall Street’s mildly positive performance.

The cautious mood also weighs on the MSCI’s index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan that trims earlier gains to 0.40% by the press time. However, Japan’s Nikkei rises over 1.5% to 22,390 while writing as the increase in Japanese Monetary Base and hopes of further stimulus keep the Asian major’s equity traders hopeful.

Australia’s ASX 200 recently picked bids after the RBA’s status quote whereas New Zealand’s NZX 50 cheers the optimism at home after the traders returned from a long weekend. Moving on, Indonesia’s IDX Composite benefit from upbeat Indonesia inflation data whereas South Korea’s KOSPI gains despite readiness to re-open World Trade Organization (WTO) dispute with Japan.

Additionally, stocks in Beijing refrain to respect the People’s Bank of China’s (PBOC) optimistic survey. The research outcome said, “the central bank’s Loan Prime Rate (LPR) reforms have been effective for the financial institutions and also for the transmission efficiency of market interest rates.” It should also be noted that stocks in India, Hong Kong and the Philippines also flash mild gains while following the broadly mixed trading sentiment.

Considering the lack of major data/events, traders may keep eyes on the headlines from the US for near-term trade direction