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Asia shares touch two-year top as China plans home boost

Asian shares started the week by rallying twoyear highs on Monday, buoyed by China's. greatest steps yet to address its residential or commercial property crisis and by. expectations for international rate cuts within weeks, while the dollar. steadied after a weekly drop.

Brent unrefined futures touched a one-week high of. $ 84.14 a barrel in early trade, with the crash, in heavy fog, of. a helicopter carrying Iran's president illustration traders'. attention to the Middle East. Gold hovered near a. record high at $2,423 an ounce.

Japan's Nikkei rose 0.9% in early trade. Hang Seng. futures pointed to gains and MSCI's broadest index of. Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan was up 0.25%. to a two-year top with early gains in Australia and South Korea.

After world stocks made record highs last week in the wake. of softening U.S. inflation, focus today turns to policy. speeches, fulfilling minutes, a reserve bank decision in New. Zealand and Nvidia results, with a break in the information calendar.

Whether this summertime continues will need more than one. swallow flying, it will require the confidence of central. bankers and more economic evidence, stated Bob Savage, BNY Mellon's. head of markets technique and insights in a note to clients.

The week ahead will pivot on the Fed speakers and (Fed). minutes in how they paint the image of policy risks ahead,. with a bias to reduce instead of hike essential, he stated.

Late last week, partially in reaction to some policymakers'. remarks, worldwide bonds backtracked a rally that had followed an. motivating fall in U.S. CPI data.

U.S. Federal Reserve Guv Michelle Bowman restated her. view that she stays willing to trek rates ought to advance on. taming inflation stall or reverse.

European Reserve bank board member Isabel Schnabel stated the. June rate cut that markets have priced in for Europe might be. appropriate but seemed to put cold water on traders'. expectations for a series of cuts to follow.

Two-year U.S. Treasury yields ended last week. four basis points (bps) lower at 4.825% and were steady in Asia. trade. Ten-year U.S. yields were down 8.4 bps last. week to 4.42%.

Two-year bund yields went up 2 bps to 2.988%.

RBNZ AHEAD

China announced historic actions on Friday to stabilise its. home sector, with the central bank facilitating 1 trillion. yuan ($ 138 billion) in additional financing and relieving mortgage guidelines,. and city governments set to purchase some homes.

That helped the Hang Seng to a nine-month high and. growth-sensitive copper prices to a 26-month peak. In other places in. commodities three-month nickel surged to its strongest in 9. months due to discontent in nickel exporter New Caledonia.

In currency markets the dollar logged its largest weekly. drop on the euro in two-and-a-half months recently, however was. steady in Asia morning trade on Monday.

The euro was broadly stable at $1.0873 on Monday. The yen was a fraction softer at 155.82 per dollar.

The Australian dollar increased 1.4% recently and held. at $0.6698 on Monday and the New Zealand dollar hovered at. $ 0.6135. The Reserve Bank of New Zealand sets interest rates on. Wednesday and is anticipated to leave its primary money rate at 5.5%.

We don't believe the RBNZ will be as positive as markets are. that cuts are just around the corner, and if that holds true,. we may see short-end rates raise a touch this week, stated. experts at ANZ Bank.

Meeting minutes are due from Australia's central bank and. the Federal Reserve. Flash global PMIs are likewise out today.

S&P 500 futures increased 0.2% in early trade. Bitcoin. dipped about 1% to $65,863.

(source: Reuters)