Asia markets live updates: Japan CGPI, US inflation

Japan’s 2-year government bond yields hit a 13-year high amid speculation that the Bank of Japan will soon tighten monetary policy.

The yield on the 2-year JGB rose to 0.2% on Tuesday, having last reached this level in January 2010.

The yield on the benchmark 10-year JGB also climbed to 0.778%, its highest level since November 2023.

— Lim Hui Jie

Barclays has named three European stocks that investors should consider buying for the upcoming quarter.

The Wall Street bank’s strategists said they have a “high conviction” since the “risk-adjusted returns are attractive” in these companies. All three stocks are also traded in the U.S.

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— Ganesh Rao

With sentiment and positioning elevated and valuations adequately reflecting good news in the market, UBS believes a correction could be ahead.

“The market looks more susceptible to pullbacks, although we don’t believe investors should lose sight of the bigger picture,” the bank’s chief investment office wrote to clients Monday.

The team said investors should stay neutral on U.S. equities, noting that being invested in line with long-term targets make sense given the “many positive drivers still in place.”

Healthy economic growth and lower inflation are two reasons why the market has performed so well, the firm said. The third reason is artificial intelligence, which the team said has created “fertile soil for risk on moves.”

— Alex Harring

Oil prices were mixed Monday as traders awaited a new round of February inflation data and reports on the global crude outlook from OPEC and the International Energy Agency this week.

The West Texas Intermediate contract for April lost 8 cents, or 0.10%, to settle at $77.93 a barrel. The Brent contract for May added 13 cents, or 0.16%, to settle at $82.21 a barrel.

U.S. crude and the global benchmark fell 2.45% and 1.76%, respectively, last week on tepid demand in China and comments from the IEA that the market should be well supplied this year.

“WTI rejection of $80 a barrel has some wondering whether the move is over,” Phil Flynn, an analyst at the Price Futures Group, wrote in a Monday note.

— Spencer Kimball

Stocks whose performance is tied to the price of bitcoin rose on Monday after the cryptocurrency climbed to another all-time high.

Crypto exchange Coinbase advanced 3.5%. Bitcoin proxy Microstrategy jumped 9% after the company purchased another roughly 12,000 bitcoins for more than $821 million in cash, according to a filing.

Miners were mixed, however. Marathon Digital lost 3.75% and CleanSpark fell 4%. Meanwhile, Iris Energy gained 2.6% and Riot Platforms was flat. These were some of the biggest stock market gainers in February. All but CleanSpark, one of the lower-cost operators of the group, have turned lower for March as investors digest the upcoming Bitcoin halving event, when mining companies’ revenue will be slashed.

— Tanaya Macheel